Wishing
by EbonyWells
Summary: HS fanfic that mainly focuses around Carol, Ed and Daryl. Carol and Ed have been dating for three years, but Carol is incredibly unhappy. Disobeying Ed's wishes, she befriends the quiet redneck who everyone seems to avoid.
1. Chapter 1

**Hey guys! So, I'm pretty excited to be starting this. It was just an idea that popped up in my head. Its probably been done before but, whatever. I don't know why, but I just LOVE writing and Rping (roleplaying. On kik. I play Carol. And occasionally Dale and Milton. Aw, Dale and Milty :'( Lel.) high school, involving characters from TWD. I know I am not that great of a writer, and I have a huge difficultly writing in the third person usually, so this is a bit of a new thing for me. I'm not even sure if I'm going to be able to continue this but, who knows? Oh, and I'm only going to be able to update any of my stories once a week because I don't have wifi at my house, so that means I'll have to travel to the library or a Mcdonalds or something, baha. I'll try my hardest to get it updated as much as possible! Also, if you read this PLEASE let me know what you think by reviewing and if you like it, subscribe or follow or whatever :D It would mean the world! But, anyway! Enough of my rambling, I hope you enjoy!**

**Let me know what you think :D**

* * *

Chapter One

Carol sat at her booth in the diner, with Ed sitting across from her and studied the menu in her hands. There was an old couple sitting at a booth in front of them, and some locals sitting at the stools of the counter. Other than that, it was pretty empty.

"Are you trying to write a book report about that menu or something?" Ed snarled and pushed her menu down slightly with his finger, studying her face.

"I'm just looking, Ed." She answered blandly and kept her eyes on the menu. Ed took it out of her hands and set it down on top of his. "Hey!" She tried to take it back when he folded his hands over the menu's. "Ed, don't be like that." She crossed her arms and leaned back into the booth.

"You were looking at that menu for ten minutes. And I know you read for a while when you're avoiding something or upset. So, what's wrong?" Ed kept his hands over the menu's and studied her. Carol shrugged and sighed.

"Nothings wrong. I just feel like… I don't know. That you're getting bored with me." Ed and Carol had been dating since their freshmen year of high school. They were now in the beginning of their senior year. Carol had her suspicions about Ed, fooling around with other woman. He shook his head and gave her the same old speech he always did.

"I'm not bored of you. Babe, I don't think I could ever get bored of you. I love you." He uncrossed her arms and held her hands. He gave her his big, fake smile and gently squeezed her hands.

"I love you too." She smiled weakly and squeezed his hands back. Carol knew that what he was saying was most likely lies. Like it was programmed into him to say whenever she brought up this subject. Love was just a four letter word to Ed. But she went along with it. For her own sake. The waitress walked up to their booth and took out a small pen and notepad to take their order. Ed let go of her hands and leaned back in his seat.

"I'll have a steak. And the lady will have a salad." Ugh. She hated when he ordered for her. And he referred to her as _the lady._ Who the hell did he think he was?

"Actually, Scratch off the salad. I think I'll have a burger. And an extra order of fries. Thanks, doll." She smiled as the waitress walked away, but the smile quickly left when Ed set his elbows on the table and looked at Carol, un-amused.

"What the hell was that?" He grits. She laughed a little and shrugged.

"I didn't want a salad." Carol explained as she played with a straw wrapper. Ed narrowed his eyes at her before grabbing a hold of her wrist with a death grip, causing her to wince in pain and drop the wrapper. "Ow!" She tried pulling away, only causing Ed to hold on tighter. He was about to say something when the door opened, causing the bells to jingle and everyone stopped talking, and looked at the person who walked in.

* * *

Daryl stepped through the door to the diner, and immediately regretted having to come here as everyone in the diner stopped what they were doing and looked at him. Even the cooks. He cursed under his breath and walked in the rest of the way, holding a crumbled ten dollar bill in his hand. He walked up to the counter and quickly ordered, while avoiding the cashiers dirty looks. Daryl stood around, waiting and looked down at his feet. He could still feel peoples eyes looking at him.

"Hey, Dixon!" He heard someone shout and he recognized that annoying voice anywhere. Ed Peletier. Daryl gritted his teeth and looked up and over at a booth where Ed and a girl from some of his classes sat. Fuck, what was her name? C… Something. She was in math and bio with him. Maybe language arts too. Caroline? Carol! That was her name. She was pretty, but she was with Ed. So she obviously liked the rich and proper ones. Ed chuckled from his seat and Daryl looked at his hand wrapped seemingly tightly around Carol's wrist. "Couldn't find any deer? Going to eat some real food for a change?" He mocked Daryl.

"Ed, stop." Carol tried pulling her wrist away from him as she demanded for him to stop. Ed ignored her and continued to get on Daryl's nerves.

"We got us some squirrel, daddy!" Ed shouted in a fake, southern sounding accent and the people around the diner chuckled. Except Carol.

"Ed!" She shouted and finally pulled out of his grip. She glared at him before getting up out of the booth and started storming to the door. She stopped beside Daryl and set a hand on his shoulder, causing him to flinch. "I'm sorry. About him." He looked up at her slightly and then at her hand. She sighed and walked out the door, Ed following after her. That moment, the cook shoved a brown paper bag, containing his order into his hand and snarled a ''Go'' to him. Carrying the bag, and looking around, he walked out and stormed off the opposite direction of Carol and Ed.

* * *

"Hey! Carol, stop!" Ed shouted after her, as she stormed through the diner parking lot. She ignored him and walked past his silver convertible and onto the sidewalk. Next thing she knew, Ed was in his car, driving in sync with her walking. "Get in the car."

"No." She answered, not looking at him and started to walk faster. Ed once again, matched her speed.

"Carol! Get in the car!" He shouted. She held onto the wrist he had been grabbing with her other hand and stopped walking. Ed stomped on the brakes and looked at her from the drivers seat. He huffed and narrowed his eyes at her. "Why are you mad at me?" Carol chuckled at that question and looked at her bruising wrist.

"That was so, unnecessary Ed. He was just trying to get something to eat and you went and embarrassed him like that." Ed shook his head and glared at her.

"You got a soft spot for the redneck?" He asked her, seemingly jealous. Carol knew what he was doing. He was trying to turn the situation onto her, make it seem like she did something wrong. He always did this, because he could never admit when he was the one that did something wrong.

"It was just rude. He's probably harassed everywhere he goes, and you aren't helping." She let go of her wrist when it became tender to the touch and let her arms swing by her sides. This wasn't the first time Ed had bruised her. She had a handprint on her arm before. She had sported a bleeding lip and a bruise on her cheek last month. Thanks to lots of foundation, no one noticed. And if her dad was ever home, he would've seen it. She quickly shook her head and looked at him, sitting in the drivers seat.

"It was just joking around, Carol. Just, get in the damn car." He opened up the passenger seat door, revealing the white leather seats. She sighed and reluctantly got into the convertible, trying to sit as far away from Ed as possible. She slammed the door shut and propped her elbow on it. Ed started the car and began to drive.

* * *

They pulled up into her driveway around ten that night. Ed parked the car in the middle of the driveway and looked over at Carol. She went to open the door and get into her house when Ed gently grabbed her hand. Damn. She didn't want to talk anymore, she just wanted to go inside, take a shower and go to bed. But, he didn't budge. He held onto her hand and pulled her towards him, so that their noses were touching.

"I'm sorry." _Liar. _

"I didn't mean to hurt you." _Bullshit. _

"I love you, and you know that, right?" _No. _

Carol only slightly nodded her head. Ed smiled and kissed her. She hesitated at first, but then kissed him back. He knew how to manipulate her, and it pissed her off. Ed lied her down on the leather seats, still while kissing her and started to unbutton her pants. Carol quickly pulled back and took his hand away from her pants.

"Ed, no." She tried sitting up, only to have Ed lie her back down. She didn't want sex and he knew that. For years he had been trying, but she thought it was to early. And they were to young.

"Why not?" He asked, taking off his Varsity football jacket and throwing it in the backseat of his car. She tried pushing him off, but Ed was a big built guy, and didn't move an inch.

"Just stop! It's too early for this, Ed." He scoffed and studied her.

"Too early? We've been dating for three years. The damn end of the world is going to happen before you finally feel 'ready'." Ed rolled his eyes and sat down in his seat, allowing Carol to sit up. "Just go. I'll see you in class tomorrow." She looked at Ed, before opening the car door and rushing inside to her house.

* * *

Carol started the shower and tested the warmth of the water before stepping in. She ran her fingers through her dampened hair and sighed heavily. Maybe Ed was right. They had been dating for three years. She _should _be ready. She quickly shook her head and put shampoo in her hair. Ed shouldn't be forcing her, if she didn't feel ready; she wasn't ready. She felt her stomach sink as she thought about the situation at the diner with that kid. Aw shit. What was his name?

"Daren?" Carol asked herself. No, no. That didn't sound right. She had at least three classes with him, and had wanted to talk to him before. She knew Ed would be furious if she did. "Daryl? Daryl! That's his name." She exclaimed to herself while standing under the shower head and let the water run the shampoo out of her hair. "Daryl Dixon." She liked the sound of his name on her tongue. She thought about how quiet and distant he seemed in class. Wait… Why was she thinking about Daryl? She was with Ed. And it was completely inappropriate, speaking that she was in the shower. She tried to push him out her mind but he seemed to stick in there. "Maybe I should talk to him." Carol spoke to herself as she shut the shower off and walked out, wrapping herself in a towel. She took a separate towel and wrapped it around her red hair, that looked black when wet. She jumped a little when her cell phone on the counter rang.

"Hello?" She said in the receiver as she dried off.

"Carol!" She heard the squeaky sounding voice of Lori shoot back at her and chuckled a little.

"Hey, Lori." Carol flung the towels over the shower rod and slipped into a t-shirt and a pair of shorts, while continuing to hold the phone to her ear. Lori's voice took a bit of a serious tone.

"My parents were at the diner tonight, and they were talking about a bit of a shouting match between you, Ed and that Dixon kid. Is everything alright?" Carol sighed a bit while walking out of the bathroom and down to the kitchen after feeling her stomach rumble in hunger. She realized Ed and her had left the diner without eating. She was starved.

"His name is Daryl." She found herself snapping at Lori, unintentionally into the phone as she rummaged through her fridge. "And everything's fine. Ed was just being a bit… Annoying."

_Annoying, hm? More like a complete prick. _Carol found herself thinking. People didn't know the Ed that she did. He had nearly the whole community wrapped around his finger. Most of the adults too.

Star of the football team.

Straight-A student.

Wouldn't hurt a fly.

_Wrong. _

Stupid Jock.

Cheats off the smart kids of the class.

Hit woman.

Carol snapped out of her thoughts when she heard Lori's voice again.

"Annoying? How so?" She grabbed a box of crackers and walked to her living room. Cell phone in one hand, crackers in the other, she sat down on her couch and curled her toes into the cushions.

"He was making fun of Daryl. Embarrassed him in front of everyone in the diner. It made me embarrassed to be his girlfriend." Carol explained the situation to Lori as she munched on a cracker.

"Why would that embarrass you? The things he was saying about the hick were probably true." Carol gritted her teeth a bit. Why was she so angry over the things people were saying about Daryl? She had only spoke to him maybe twice in the five years they had gone to school together. One time she needed a pencil and he had lent her one. The other time, in about eighth grade, Daryl was standing in front of her in the lunch line and didn't have enough money to buy his lunch. So Carol sparred a few extra dollars and helped him out. Carol, caught in her own thoughts again, jumped a bit when Lori shouted her name through the receiver. "Carol! You didn't hang up on me, did you?"

"No, sorry." She yawned. "I think I'm about to fall asleep, so I'll talk to you tomorrow." Before hearing Lori reply, she hung up and set the phone on the table. Deciding she was to lazy to get up and walk to her room, she closed up the box of crackers and set it beside the couch before lying down and covering herself with a thin blanket that rested on top of the couch. Carol closed her eyes and thought about Daryl.

"To hell with what Ed thinks." She yawned to herself as she slowly drifted off to sleep. "I'm going to talk to Daryl tomorrow." She fell asleep with a sly smile on her face.

* * *

Ed leaned against his locker and listened to Philip tell his story.

"So, Andrea came over last night, right? My parents weren't home and we're sitting there on the couch, making out. Things got pretty heated, pretty quickly and next thing I know, we're upstairs in my room. Lets just say someone got lucky last night." Philip smirks and crosses his arms, looking at Ed. "What about you and Carol?" Ed shook his head quickly and sighed a bit.

"She says she's 'not ready' and that 'we're to young'. Same shit, different day." Ed rolled his eyes and looked very un-amused. "And we were in the diner and she stood up for that redneck!" He didn't need to say a name. Philip knew who he was talking about.

"Hell, I don't know why you haven't dumped her sorry ass already." Ed shrugged and smirked a little.

"Don't matter. After I dropped her off I called up one of the girls from science and she gave me what I needed." Both Ed and Philip laughed as the bell rang and they started walking totheir classrooms. "I don't think I could just drop her, I mean, no other guy would want her. Couldn't just leave the poor thing." Ed said, matter of factly as he walked into his first class.

* * *

Carol sat in math class, gripping onto her pencil, frustrated and confused, as she stared at the paper assigned to her with a blank look. She looked up and around the classroom and her eyes immediately went to Daryl; who's paper seemed to be already finished. She eyed the empty seat beside him and before her courage fizzled away, she got up and sat in the seat. Avoiding the weird looks she was getting from everyone in the class, including Daryl, she looked at her paper and then up at him.

"Hey," She whispered, "I'm having a really hard time with this, and I was wondering if you could help me?" Carol smiled a little and studied the youngest Dixon's confused looking face.

"You don' need mah help." He answered, blandly, returning the same whisper. Carol looked over at his paper, which was already complete and sitting neatly up in the right corner of his desk.

"I honestly think I do. I've been staring at this paper, clueless, for at least ten minutes, while you have already finished yours and could've probably gone on a jog with your extra time." Carol teased him and it almost looked like Daryl was going to laugh. Sighing, almost in a defeated way, he sat up and went to grab her paper, when he brushed his hand against hers. Causing the top of his ears to turn red.

His skin felt nice against hers. _Goddamn. Knock off thinking like that Carol. You barely know the kid. Plus, just think of what Ed would do… _She pushed that thought into the back of her mind and hoped it would stay there. Daryl finally took her paper and studied over the little bit of work Carol was able to complete.

"Now, see," Daryl pointed to her paper and grabbed his own pencil, erasing her work and replacing it with his own. "The equation equals X over seven not seven over X." Carol slowly nodded as she studied Daryl's face. He seemed to really know what he was talking about. His blue eyes traced his work, seemingly over again. Even though everyone labeled him as a redneck, he seemed so gentle. Definitely a lot more gentle than Ed.

"Hey, uh thanks for the help." She whispered again while gently taking her paper from his hands, causing him to look at her. "I just wanted to say that I'm really sorry about what Ed did at the diner. It was uncalled for and I just… I'm sorry." Daryl slightly nodded and looked back down at his desk.

"You don' need to apologize. You didn' do nothin'." Daryl picked at the dirt under his nails as he spoke and Carol continued to feel bad.

"I do feel bad though." She sighed heavily. "I am his girlfriend after all. What he does, ends up coming back and reflecting to me. Plus it was just a jackass thing to do." Daryl shrugged a bit, and still wasn't looking at Carol.

" 'm used to it. Don' matter anymore." Hearing this nearly broke Carol's heart. He seemed so nice, and no one deserved to be bullied. Whether it was physically, verbally or both. It was just wrong.

"That doesn't make it right, Daryl." He perked his head up a bit when she said his name, as if he was surprised that she knew it. Carol smiled a little when an idea came to mind. "Why don't you sit with me today at lunch? I could always use some extra help with math." He looked at her with a bit of a perplexed look and shrugged.

"Wouldn't Ed get mad at ye'? I don' wan' to be getting ya in any kind of trouble." She chuckled a bit and shook her head.

"I frankly, don't care if Ed gets mad at me. I can have a guy friend, right?" _Friend? _"Come on. Lunch is on me." She smiled a little more, hoping he would accept the offer. Sighing, Daryl nodded a bit.

"Fine. Alright. I'll have lunch with ya."

* * *

**So, that completes my first chapter! Please, let me know what you think! Sorry about the shitty title, I just could not come up with one. And also, if you have any requests for my One-Shots, comment them and I'll try to write it!**

**Thanks for reading guys! **


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter Two

**Chapter two, yippie! Not sure how I'm feeling this chapter, but I needed to update. I hope everyone is liking this! Feedback is important to me, so please, don't feel shy to review, it means a lot. And if you like it, please follow or favorite. As usual, if you have any kind of requests, let me know and I'll try to write them!**

**Hope you guys enjoy! **

* * *

Shane stared at the couple in math class with near disgust. What the hell was Carol doing? The damn woman was flirting with the redneck when she was dating Ed. He would _not_ be happy to hear this. Quietly taking his phone out of his pocket, and eyeing the teacher, who seemed preoccupied in today's school newspaper, he texted Ed.

'_You might want to put a damn leash on your woman.' _Shane looked up from his phone and over at Daryl and Carol again, as he sent the text.

"Exponents? Where do those come in, exactly?" She asked him, while twirling a red curl around her finger. Feeling his phone vibrate in his hands, Shane looked down at Ed's response.

_'I wanted to, last night. She's still not ready.' _Shane cringed when he read that and shook his head, replying.

_'Nah, not like that man! Gross. No, she seems to be getting cozy with the redneck. I think I heard mentions of them having lunch together.' _Almost immediately, Ed responded.

'_Like hell she is. Keep an eye on them for me, would ya?' _Quickly responding with a _'Yeah'_, Shane put his phone back in it's place in his pocket and turned his attention back to the two of them.

* * *

Daryl was really surprised. She had come up to him, and asked for his help. No one had ever asked for his help before and it felt kind of… Nice. It was surprisingly, really easy to talk to her, and help her with the math problems. He knew most of it by heart anyways. While she studied her newly written work on her paper, the scene from the diner last night popped into his head. She had _stood up_ for him, against her boyfriend, none the less. No one had ever done that for him either. Not even Merle, or his mom. And his dad would never do anything like that for him.

" 'Ey uh, thanks for um, last night." Carol looked up at him with a seemingly, confused look on her face.

"Last night?" Shifting in his seat, Daryl sighed and looked down at his now slightly cleaner nails.

"Last night, y'know. At th' diner."

"Oh!" She exclaimed, chuckling a little. "You're welcome. And thanks for the help with this. You're _really _good at it, actually." Carol motioned to her math paper, with a bit of a surprised tone when she said he was good at it. He decided not acknowledge her tone and looked over at her. Nobody would've expected a hick like him to be good at math. Or, anything other than hunting.

"Yeah. Just kinda, clicks.'' Daryl had learned a lot of math when he was younger. Whenever his Uncle Charlie would visit, Daryl would always stay by his side, hoping to get one more math problem out of him. His Uncle Charlie made sure that Daryl had gotten as much of an education as his father would allow.

"Do you think uh, maybe I could sit here everyday from now on? I mean, it would be a big help. I'm obviously not that great at math." Daryl felt his cheeks get hot and quickly looked away. Why the fuck was he blushing? This was one of the only times he had ever spoken to her, he barley knew the girl. Plus, she was with Ed. _Ed. _

But he couldn't just blow her off, either. He didn't want her thinking he was rude. What was the harm with helping her with math? She kinda sucked at it too, so she _definitely _needed the help. Still making a debate with himself, Daryl looked over at the direction of Shane, who was staring at the two of them. Shane and Ed were friends, last time he had checked; so Shane was most likely going to tattle to Ed the minute he got out of this class.

A smirk spread across Daryl's face as he turned back to face Carol.

"Sure, ye' can sit by me if ya want." Blushing a little, Carol gave him a big, pearly white smile. He felt weird inside when she gave him that smile.

_Pull yourself together, Dixon. She wants your help in math, that's all. _Hearing the lunch bell ring, all the students got up at the same time, and rushed out of the classroom. Except for Carol and Daryl. They slowly stood up, and Daryl looked up at her, timid. Walking out to her locker, he wasn't sure what to do as she put in the combination. Was he supposed to wait for her? Or was he supposed to go? Before he could decide, Carol closed her locker and faced him, holding a brown paper bag in her hand.

"Are you going to get your lunch?" Daryl immediately became uncomfortable. He couldn't afford lunch at school, and there was never anything for him to take from home. He usually went hungry.

"I uh, don' eat lunch." Sympathy seemed to flicker in Carol's eyes as she smiled a little and gripped onto the bag in her hand.

"We can share. I hope you like ham." She laughed, and with that, she started walking towards the cafeteria, Daryl following shortly behind.

* * *

Carol looked around the crowded cafeteria, not sure where to sit. She looked over at the table she usually sat at, right in the middle of the room. Ed was already sitting there, waiting for her to sit by him. Suddenly feeling nervous, she gripped onto the bag in her hand even tighter and bit her bottom lip. As Ed motioned for her to come over, she quickly turned her back to him, causing her to bump into Daryl.

"Sorry!" She exclaimed as she stumbled a little. Daryl, who seemed unfazed, grabbed onto her arms to keep her from falling. Once she was steady, and stood up straight, he quickly took his hands away and stuck them in his pockets. "Thanks." She sheepishly smiled and looked at him.

"I usually sit over there. If ye' still want to have lunch together." Daryl tilted his head slightly over at a table in the corner of the room. Carol looked over at the table and then at him again.

"Of course I still want to have lunch with you! Come on." She gently tugged on the sleeve of his jacket and with one final look at the glaring Ed, she walked over to the table and sat down; Daryl sitting a seat away from her. She felt Ed's eyes boring into the two of them as she rummaged through the paper bag and took out a sandwich, that was cut in halves. Handing him a half, she thanked god that his back was to Ed's table, as everyone there stared at the two of them and whispered things to each other.

"Thanks." He mumbled as he took the sandwich and took a hungry bite. Carol observed him for a minute as he ate his half of the sandwich. It looked like it was the first piece of food he'd had all day.

Taking her own half, and gently taking small bites, she recalled seeing Daryl on numerous occasions, sitting at his table by himself and empty handed. She had always wanted to go over and talk to him, but she didn't have the courage she had somehow mustered up today. Looking back over at Daryl, she saw that he had quickly finished his half and had his hands folded over on the table. Setting her half of the sandwich down on a napkin, she looked back in her bag and handed him a granola bar.

"If you're still hungry…" He timidly took the granola bar and gave her a slight nod in… Was that gratitude she saw? Smiling a little, she cleared her throat to speak. "Now, this isn't to bad, is it?" Daryl shrugged a little and took a bite out of the granola bar.

"Are ye' sure Ed wont be mad at ya? I wouldn't want him hurtin' ya or anythin'." Looking over at Ed's table, once again, she shook her head a little.

"He wont hurt me." Trying to believe her own lie, she finished her half of the sandwich and took a sip from her water bottle. "Why would he hurt me?" She chuckled, half heartedly and took Daryl's now empty wrapper. He adjusted in his seat, looking almost uncomfortable and he seemed to take a more serious face.

"Well, I mean, uh y'know. How else would you have gotten tha' bruise last month?" He motioned to her cheek and she quickly felt her eyes filling up with hot tears.

_How had he seen that? Didn't use enough foundation to cover it up… Ugh. _

"I know ye' used some kind of stuff th' cover it up. Trust me. Yer' skin looked kinda weird, that was how I was able to tell." Trying to blink back her tears, she opened her mouth to talk, but nothing came out.

_Get it together, you don't want to be crying in front of everyone. And you definitely don't want to scare Daryl off. _He didn't seem like someone who would be able to comfort her. So, giving him a smile, she opened her mouth and this time words came out.

"He wont hurt me. You shouldn't be worried, I mean, you're just my… Friend." The corners of his lips curved up a little and he seemed to like the thought of them being friends. The bell rang and Carol took the empty bag and tossed into the trash can before standing up and giving Daryl another smile. "So, I'll see you for lunch tomorrow." Before he could protest, she twirled around and rushed out of the cafeteria.

* * *

Carol spent the rest of her day avoiding Ed.

Whenever she saw him coming up to her locker she would quickly grab her things and go into whatever class she had next. And if he was in the same class, she'd linger until someone took her seat by him.

When the end of the day came, she couldn't help but sigh in relief when she got to her locker and didn't see him anywhere. Just as she put her last book into her locker, and closed it, she felt hands on her hips and jumped up. As she turned around to see Ed, she had wished the hands had belonged to someone else. To a certain redneck…

_Stop._

"I feel like I haven't seen you all day." Ed complained, as he left his hands on her hips and turned her to face him, pushing her back up against the lockers.

_That was intentional. _

Forcing a smile, she stayed in her position against the locker. "Really? I thought we saw each other plenty." Shaking his head, Ed buried his face in the burrow of her neck and kissed it. Carol rolled her eyes slightly, as his grip on her hips tightened and he continued to kiss her neck. This did nothing for her, but she let out a fake moan as he kissed under her jaw line. Tilting her head to the left, she looked down the hallway and saw a teacher walking towards them. Ed had just slipped a hand past the waistband of her pants when Carol pushed him away and motioned to the teacher approaching them. He glared at her as the teacher walked past the two of them. Standing up from her spot on the lockers, she crossed her arms and looked away from Ed.

"So, how was your little lunch date today?'' He snickered as he stuffed his hands into the pockets of his football jacket that he always seemed to wear.

"Hm, very funny." She sneered at him and rolled her eyes. "It wasn't a date."

"Nah, looked more like some charity to me. Kept handing him your food. It was pretty pathetic, actually." Carol glared at him as he said this.

"He was hungry. And I didn't need all that food anyway." She had always been self conscious about her figure. Well, ever since her and Ed had started dating.

"You got that right. If you keep eating at the rate you do, you'll be two hundred pounds by the time we graduate." She bit on her lip to keep herself from snarling a remark back at him. She knew that if she did it'd result in a _smack _or a push into her wall when they arrived at her house. She barely weighed a solid one twenty-five, which was good for her height and build.

"Mhm." She uncrossed her arms and walked by him. "I don't need a ride home tonight." He grabbed her arm and stopped her.

"Actually, my parents aren't home. Thinking, maybe I could take you over there. We could, relax in the hot tub, make out. Other stuff…" None of this appealed to Carol, as she pulled her arm out of his grasp.

"I got a ton of homework and my dad might be home tonight." She knew her dad wasn't going to be home, and she didn't have any homework. She always finished it in class; well, except for math.

She just really didn't want to go with Ed. His big house, and fancy things didn't appeal to her.

"You never have homework. Besides, it wouldn't take long." He pulled her over to him, so that their chests were pressed against each other and guided his hand towards the waistband of her pants again. She didn't even want to look him in the eyes, none the less have sex with him.

"We're in the middle of the hallway, Ed." She tried pulling away, only to have him pull her back again.

"Doesn't matter, no ones here. A man has urges." He thrusted his hips into hers and she squirmed, finally pulling away.

"I don't care! I'm not having sex with you!" And that's when his palm made contact with her left cheek. She whimpered as she stumbled to the side and cupped her cheek with her hand. Glaring up at him, Carol stormed out of the school doors and made her way home. Ignoring the plea's to stop from behind her.

* * *

Slamming her door shut and quickly locking it, Carol felt her cheek throbbing and sighed. It was already bruising.

She rushed over to the freezer and took out an icepack, gently setting it on her bruised cheek.

Who the hell did he think he was? Because she wouldn't have sex with him, doesn't mean he could lay his hands on her.

There had been too many incidents. Too many demands, too many questions. Too many empty cans of foundation. Carol was done. She was going to break up with him, once and for all.

She hated Ed. _Hated_ him.

* * *

Daryl opened the door to his small house and was greeted with a punch in the stomach.

Pa was home.

" 'Ey boy! 'Bout time ye' got here. Go make yer' worthless ass useful and go huntin'. Need some meat 'round here." Daryl was doubled over, holding his stomach in his hand as he looked up at his excuse of a father. This time, he got a punch in the jaw.

"Did I fuckin' stutter boy?! Go git some fucking deer!" He pushed his crossbow into the younger Dixon's hands. Daryl grasped the crossbow in his hands and stomped out of the house and into the woods, spitting blood onto the ground.

* * *

As he stomped through the woods, Daryl couldn't help but think about Carol.

Their lunch today went well, except for the fact he nearly made her cry. He saw it when he mentioned Ed hitting her. It was obvious the bastard had laid his hands on her, but everyone seemed oblivious to the fact.

Or just tried to ignore it.

No one could picture Ed as anything but a perfect student. But Daryl saw what kind of person he really was. And even though today was the first day he ever had a real conversation with her, he knew Carol didn't deserve to be treated like that.

He sure as hell would never hit her.

Coming out of his thoughts, Daryl spotted a deer by the creek in front of him. Quietly, he loaded an arrow into his crossbow and looked through the scope. Aiming, he shot and an experienced arrow went into the deer's chest.

"Dinner."

* * *

Lori had been texting and calling her all night.

She didn't want to talk to her right now, she knew all she'd want to hear about was Ed and her and what was going on with the two of them. Carol hoped no one had been in the hallway when he had slapped her, and nearly ripped her clothes off.

God, she always felt so violated by him. She remembered the first day she had laid eyes on him. His slicked back, black velvet hair and his big smile had her wrapped around his finger instantly. Then she found out what he was_ really _like; and by then it was too late to back out. But she was sick of feeling violated and scared of him, it wasn't a healthy relationship.

"You can do it." She walked into the living room and settled herself on her couch. "Just, break up with him." Fear coursed through her mind, as she thought about what Ed might do if she did end the relationship. Carol gently placed a hand on her bruised cheek and felt tears form in the corner of her eyes. "You can do it."

Nodding and smiling to herself, she grabbed her drawing pad and pencil and flipped to the first empty page.

"You can do it."

* * *

Carol was walking laps around the gym with Lori.

"I called you like, one hundred times last night. You aren't mad at me, are you?" Lori asked worried. She shook her head quickly.

"Of course not! I went to bed real early last night. I was tired." She lied, hoping Lori wouldn't notice. She was an awful liar and was never able to get away with anything when she was younger. Truth was, she had spent most of the night drawing and going over scenarios in her head. Scenarios of what was going to happen when she broke up with him, of how she was going to break the news that she was done with his bullshit.

She was tense just thinking about it. But drawing that Cherokee Rose last night had definitely calmed her down. They were her favorite flower. She had plenty of them growing in bushes outside her house and she always had a fresh vase of them on the kitchen table. She adored the flower and thought it was the most gorgeous, but simple thing she had ever seen.

"You feeling alright? You look a little pale." Lori studied her face with narrow eyes and Carol prayed she didn't notice she was wearing foundation. She had tried to find some that matched her skin tone the most, but hadn't had much luck.

"I'm fine. Damn, I guess I need a tan." She chuckled and Lori laughed with her.

"We can go to the beach this weekend." Carol quickly made an excuse.

Beach meant bathing suit. Bathing suit meant exposure. Exposure meant attention and attention would be drawn on her scars. The ugly reminders of how she was never good enough. How she always fucked up. They were thanks to nights when Ed would be particularly drunk or angry and take out his hunting knife and attack. They had never been too deep to do any real damage.

Carol scoffed out loud.

Look at her, she was making excuses for the man. Just because he didn't make her bleed out or anything was no excuse. He shouldn't have put his hands, or any sort of weapon on her at all.

She felt self-conscious everyday because of those scars. On her thighs and few scattered across her stomach and back. While the other girls wore shorts and skirts, she always wore jeans or sweatpants. While they could feel confident in a little bikini, she had to hide under a towel. But she didn't envy them. It had been her own fault to allow him to do those things to her.

She hadn't even noticed that Lori had wandered off to Rick until she turned to say something to her and she was gone. Now she was walking by herself, shit! That meant Ed was going to come over to her. She turned to look at him and saw he was already walking over to her. She didn't want to see him, she needed her courage to build up and she couldn't pretend like nothing was wrong anymore.

Carol frantically searched the room with her eyes for some sort of excuse to get away from him. She didn't see anyway to leave and started getting worried as he got closer. At the last moment, she saw the friendly redneck walking by himself, in the same pair of raggedy clothes he always seemed to wear. Before she could think, her feet were bringing her over to him and soon she fell in step behind him, ignoring the glare on Ed's face.

To hell with him.

She smiled up at Daryl, who was wearing a bit of a confused look. Carol couldn't help but laugh.

"Why the confused look, Dixon?" She smirked at the sound of his last name on her tongue. Daryl Dixon. It fit so well. He answered by shrugging and looking straight forward, the confused look still on his face. Ed had seized in his tracks and watched them as they walked laps, in silence, around the gym together.

"Alright class! Time to pick up the pace!" The slender gym teacher shouted, her voice echoing through the gym. "Run four laps… Now!" She started her stopwatch that she held tightly in her hand and Carol nearly froze in fear.

If she ran, that'd mean she would sweat, messing up the makeup on her face. Daryl looked at her with an expecting look on his face, as he began to pick up his pace to jog. She shook her head a bit and matched his even jogging pace, trying to keep herself calm. Ed and his bunch of friends made it a scene to run past them, a few of them bumping her or Daryl in the shoulder as they went by. She scoffed and rolled her eyes, as they kept the same pace.

"You don' like runnin' or something?" He asked, a bit out of breath and Carol couldn't help but be out of breath herself.

"Not my favorite thing to do." She admitted as she kept jogging beside him, all eyes in the room seemed to be on them. By this time, Daryl had usually already finished the laps assigned for them. It made her smile a little that the redneck was waiting up just for her. And then she felt kind of stupid.

"Ye' saying ya don' work out at all?" He eyed her and then brought his focus back in front of him. She wasn't sure what he had meant when he had said that.

"Are you calling me a liar, Daryl?" She couldn't hide the teasing in her voice and he only glared at her playfully.

" 'm just askin', I mean yer body… I mean!" He quickly shook his head and stuttered, causing Carol to snicker. "Ye' got to stay in shape somehow." He grumbled and the tips of his ears were red. Those words caused her to blush. Daryl Dixon had been checking her out and she hadn't even noticed. It made her feel nice though, knowing that someone else might've wanted her… She shook that thought out of her head. She didn't want to get her hopes to high. Carol shrugged as they continued jogging laps.

"Just got to eat your vegetables, I guess." She joked, but Daryl laughed. She had gotten him to laugh. And she quickly realized she liked his laugh. Carol smiled and they finished jogging in silence.

* * *

**So sorry I was really late with this! I've been busy. Friends, school, auditions. Also, I've been reading Haitus80's stories and oh my gosh, I couldn't stop reading! Brilliant writing. And then I got so sucked into writing **_**A Part Of Her**_** I nearly forgot about this story, but stay with me guys! I should be updating at least once a week and the next chapter should be better than this one!**

**Thanks For Reading!**


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter Three

**Hey! I hoped you guys enjoyed the last chapter a little. This should be better… I think. See, I don't plan stuff out, I just write. And I jot down whatever comes to mind really. So if things seem a bit scrambled, now you know why. I'm open to suggestions, so if any of you have some, please, I highly encourage you to comment them or even PM me! I don't bite, I'm no walker ;) **

**Anyway, hope you enjoy!**

* * *

The Georgia sun was beating down and it wasn't friendly. The teachers had decided, since it was so nice out that the students should eat their lunches outside, instead of being inside with the air conditioning. He didn't agree with the idea, but he didn't voice his opinion.

Daryl sheepishly walked outside and sat under the shade of a tree, not having to worry about anyone else sitting with him. Mostly because the students of the school avoided him like he was some sort of plague. Even some of the teachers. He didn't have a lunch, as usual and preoccupied himself by picking at some strings on his pants. He hadn't noticed that Carol had sat beside him until he felt some of her red hair brush against his ear, causing him to flinch a little. He looked up at her and she had a nearly smug smile on her face. He must've had a surprised look on his face because the smile turned into a frown and she cocked her head to the side.

"Why so surprised? Did you really think I was lying when I said I'd see you for lunch today?" He shrugged and she looked almost a little hurt. Of course he hadn't expected her to show up. No one ever kept their word to a Dixon. She shoved him a brown paper bag, just like her own and stuck her tongue out at him playfully.

"Next time I wont bring you lunch. Jerk." She was trying to act serious but couldn't hide the smile that was spreading across her lips, causing him to grin a little. He opened the bag and peeked inside it. A ham sandwich, granola bar and water, just like yesterday. He felt like she was pitying him.

"You don' need to bring me lunch, anyways." He shot her a glare as she bit into her own sandwich.

"I have too much food in my house for just me. It doesn't bother me." She shrugged off his words like dust and continued to eat her lunch, watching him seeming to gawk over his. "You best eat yours, Daryl. I spent at least a good five minutes preparing that lunch." She swatted his arm playfully. He mumbled half-heartedly and started on his own sandwich. They ate in silence for a few awkward minutes before she broke the silence. "It's so hot out here." She whined as she applied the cool water bottle to her forehead, closing her eyes when it seemed to bring relief.

He couldn't help but stare at her. Her hair was pulled back in a ponytail, revealing her smooth looking skin and the water from outside the bottle was dripping down, onto her forehead, some drops catching in her long eyelashes and others went down her nose, to her lips. Daryl nearly choked on his own breath when he studied her lips. Pink and perfect, with drops of cool water collecting at the rim.

_Damn baby brother, someone's got it bad._ He heard Merle's annoying voice cackle in the back of his mind, causing him to finally rip his gaze away from her. He nearly groaned out loud. He could never get away from his brother. Carol gave out an exasperated sigh and set the water bottle down.

"Still way too hot." She groaned as she tugged at the sleeves of the sweater she was wearing. What the hell was she thinking?! She was going to sit by him in what? Nothing but a bra? It wasn't the sun causing him to get hot, it was her. The picture of her in a bra had him reeling, setting the paper bag on his crotch, hoping she wouldn't notice the situation she was causing.

_You've known this girl for a day. I guess Darylina just really needs to get laid. _His brothers voice returned and he shook his head quickly, still not looking at Carol. He wasn't sure if she had shed the sweater yet and he didn't dare look, knowing it wouldn't help his current situation. She seemed to give out a sigh of relief and he was finally looking at her.

To his relief, and at the same time, disappointment, he saw that she was in a tank top, rather than her bra.

If he wanted to be friends with this girl, he really needed to get a hold of himself. He had never thought of any woman this way, that was Merle's job. But damn, she wasn't helping him any in that tank top and the way she had her hair pulled back.

Ed Peletier was one lucky son of a bitch.

* * *

Ed couldn't believe his eyes. She was sitting there, under the shade with _Daryl Dixon. _

He continued glaring at her while taking an angry bite out of his own lunch. What the fuck did she think she was doing? Flaunting herself like a little whore. She was _his. _And she was strutting around with her head held high and her intentions good and it pissed him the hell off. He nearly choked on his food when she saw him slip off her sweater and sat beside him in nothing but a tank top. That bitch! He had the urge to get up and march right over there and slap her, like she deserved.

But he wasn't going to. Not in front of the whole school, anyway. Even though he'd love for all of them to see how much of a tramp she really is.

Everyone had her all wrong. Sweet, innocent, smart, quiet little Carol. But they didn't see how she was behind the scenes, like he did.

Bitchy, disobedient loudmouth. That woman could make his blood boil. She knew how to press every button of his and he was positive she did it on purpose. Carol was his girlfriend, his responsibility and his property. No one else's, _his. _

And she was going to kiss that redneck goodbye. Whether she liked it or not.

* * *

She felt way to exposed, sitting in the shade with a tank top on. But the sun was blazing and It had to have been close to one hundred degrees. She felt even more stupid as she sat there, with the water bottle pressed against her forehead but it felt so nice as the cold water fought against the afternoon sun.

Daryl didn't make much effort for conversation, but they made small talk once in a while. The small talk was followed with an awkward silence and Carol couldn't help but feel idiotic. He was sitting there, nervously eating his lunch and she was sitting next to him, rather close, with a damn water bottle to her forehead. Chatter from all the other students filled the air around them. She needed to think of something to say. Anything.

"Want to go to the diner, tonight?" She cringed instantly as the words left her mouth. Okay, maybe not _anything. _She could feel his surprised eyes staring into her, as she kept her gaze staring ahead.

"Wait, ya mean together?" His gruff voice questioned. She nodded slightly, only now looking at him. There was no way she could get her way out of this situation, now.

Good going, loudmouth.

"I- I mean like, to study. Math. If you have plans, I totally understand I mean, you probably have a girlfriend to do stuff with after school." What the hell was she saying? She was rambling and just couldn't stop more stupid words to escape her mouth. She stopped when she heard Daryl chuckle.

"I ain't got no girlfriend." Carol could feel a stupid smile sweep across her face.

"No?" She took the water bottle away from her forehead and looked away, only to look back at Daryl again quickly as she saw Ed's evil glare.

"No. And, I guess I could go to th' dinner wit' ye. Ya' need th' help with math, anyways." She gave out a chuckle in disbelief. Was Daryl Dixon teasing her? She stuck her tongue out at him like a child but quickly put it back in her mouth when she realized how stupid she was being.

"Well," She said just as the bell rang and she stood up, throwing away her trash. "Sounds like a date." Carol quickly turned around and grimaced at her words as she walked away.

"God, Carol you dumbass." She muttered under her breath.

* * *

Damn, that girl was a fucking live wire.

_"Sounds like a date." _

What the hell was Daryl getting himself into?

* * *

She felt enclosed. Trapped. Like there was no escape. The tension was so thick that Carol could've cut it with a knife. She refused to look at Ed and adjusted in her car seat. The convertible seemed so small and it felt as if it was getting smaller by the minute.

He was pissed off and she knew he was pissed off at her. The thought of making a man who had treated her so wrong in the past, being pissed off at her, brought her a terrified feeling. But at the same time, it brought her a joyous feeling. Now she knew she could get under his skin in payback for him bruising and cutting hers.

Ed was speeding, tremendously and it actually made her nervous.

"Slow down." She squeaked. He ignored her and continued driving like a maniac. Carol sat up in her seat, obviously scared by how fast he was driving. "Ed! Slow the hell down!" She shouted this time and Ed came to a complete stop, right in the middle of the empty road. The force he had put on the brakes had her jerking forward in her seat. When she looked up, he was right there.

"What the hell makes you think you can talk to me like that? Huh?!" He spat and grabbed her wrist with a very painful force, causing her to actually cry out.

"Let go! You don't own me!" She jerked her wrist away and glared at him. He sat there, narrowed eyes at her.

"I never said I owned you, but you're my girlfriend. You best damn learn to listen to me, Carol. Ain't gonna be a great marriage if you keep this shit up." She actually scoffed out loud.

"What are you talking about? We're in high school."

"You didn't think we were gonna get married after high school?" He looked at her, honestly perplexed. She shook her head and crossed her arms in front of her chest.

"We aren't getting married, Ed. There's no way I'd ever carry your last name." Courage was building up in her as he sat there, mouth wide open. "In fact," she continued, before the courage went away. "I think we should break up." Ed sat there, his eyes showing how dumbfounded he was.

"What?" She unbuckled her seatbelt.

"You heard me. I'm done. It's over." Carol turned her back to him and opened her door. She was ready to get out of that damn car. He grabbed her ponytail and yanked her head back, causing her to squeal. He covered her mouth and her eyes widened in fear at the evil smile he wore on his face.

"You ain't going nowhere." Her back was pressed against his chest and she squirmed, only to have him grip her ponytail harder. "It'll only be worse if you struggle." Ed whispered in her ear and then started kissing down her neck. She knew _exactly _what he was talking about and the thought made tears spill from her eyes. She wasn't losing her innocence to him. No way in hell.

While he seemed distracted kissing down her neck, Carol elbowed him hardly in the ribs and jumped from the parked car when he let go of her and held the spot where she had elbowed him. She just ran down the sidewalk, through her neighborhood. Surely he'd leave her alone. Ed wouldn't risk getting caught being the no good, woman beating drunk he already was. She didn't stop running until she was inside her house. Carol slammed the door shut and locked it quickly. Her hands were shaking and tears streamed down her cheeks.

Tears of happiness and tears of fear. She had done it. She had broken up with him. Those were the tears of happiness. The tears of fear came in when she realized he wasn't going to let her get away that easily, and she had no one to help her.

* * *

Daryl sat in the diner, biting his thumbnail. All eyes were on him.

_Where the fuck is she?!_ That was all he thought as he kept his gaze at the tabletop. Carol had told him to meet her at the diner and she still hadn't shown up. He was sick of sitting there, people staring at him like some freak show attraction.

Daryl stood up, ready to say hell with it and leave when the door swung open and she walked through. She seemed to let out a sigh of relief when she saw him and he sat back down at the booth. She sat across from him. She seemed nervous and like she was frazzled. But he wasn't going to ask what was wrong. What would he be able to do about it anyway?

"I'm so sorry I'm late. Had some… Troubles getting here." She bit her lip, seemingly nervous and searched his gaze. He looked back down when he decided they had been looking at each other to long.

"It's fine. I haven't been waiting long." That lie seemed to have a wave of relief rush over her. He had actually been waiting for at least a good hour, but he wasn't going to tell her that. They were just making idle chat when someone walked up to their table. Daryl looked up to see Philip Blake and immediately scowled. That fucking prissy boy was best friends with Ed and it was obvious he was up to no good. He placed his palms on the table and chuckled a little. A shit eating grin on his face.

"Hello, Carol." The tone of his voice was cold. Daryl's gaze went from Philip, down to Carol, who seemed to be cowering and then back at him. He started talking again before she could respond. "Someone's been busy, huh?" He took one of his hands off the table to run it through his slicked back hair and then returned it to its original spot.

"Did Ed send you here to harass me, or are you just feeling like ruining someone's day?" She snapped and Daryl stayed quiet. This was the angriest he'd probably ever seen her. Philip just laughed and leaned in towards her more.

"Ed just wants to talk to you. A civil conversation." What the hell was going on?

"I'm not talking to him. I don't want him around. I thought I made that clear." Daryl was so confused as he watched the scene in front of him lash out. He hated the way Philip was talking to her. It made him want to stand up and punch him square in the face. His condescending tone made Daryl want to spit.

_Protectin' yer girl now, huh? _Merle's voice returned to Daryl's head. But he made a point. He barely knew Carol. He didn't need to be taking care of her problems. Hell, he didn't even know why he had agreed to come to the diner with her. But it felt like something had drawn him there with her. He scoffed at himself for thinking that. This girl was pitying him, that was all. She felt sorry for him. She didn't want to be his friend, she just wanted his help in math. Once she finally could understand the damn problems, she'd probably never talk to him again.

She was simply using him.

He snapped out of his thoughts when Philip slammed his fist down on the table and hhis teeth were clenched.

"Now, Carol, you can't just break up with Ed. You're _his _and you can't go off with some damn redneck when you get fucking bored."

"She ain't nobodies. No one owns her." He found himself speaking before he could even think. Philip ripped his gaze from Carol and looked at him. Daryl narrowed his eyes at him.

"No one asked you to talk, redneck."

"And no one asked for you to come over here and cause trouble." He countered and stood up so he was eye level with Philip. She had gotten rid of Ed and that had obviously taken a lot of courage. Hell, he couldn't even stand up to his father. She didn't need to be thinking she did something wrong by breaking up with him. It was what she had needed to do.

"Daryl, sit down." He looked over at her, her face hard with fear. He looked around and saw all eyes on them. All he wanted to do was punch the stupid fuck in the face, but he knew he'd be the only one getting in trouble for it. He slowly sat back down, not taking his gaze off of her. Carol looked back up at Philip when Daryl was seated. "Go." She said firmly and he chuckled slightly.

"This isn't over." And with that, he walked out the diner door. She let out a heavy sigh and placed her hands on the table.

"Thank you." She finally said after a few silent moments. He just nodded his head at her. He felt like he was diving in way to fast. He was being sucked into her own strange world, that was kind of like his own from what he could tell. She was abused, so wasn't he. She was quiet, but assertive when needed. He kept comparing themselves to each other in his head.

A few days ago, he simply just watched this girl who seemed to glow. He'd see her and instantly think she had the perfect life. She was always smiling and, always seeming to be open to new things in class. He nearly thought he was dreaming when she had come up to him that day in math and asked for his help. He had always secretly wished something like that would happen. That she'd approach him, because he was to much of a pussy to talk to her first. And now that something like that did happen, he didn't know what the hell to think. Or do.

Carol, who he had thought was snooty girl, who wouldn't have given him the time of day, was sitting here with him in public. No one had ever wanted to be seen out with him. No one had ever even wanted to be in the same damn room with him. These past few days had been great, actually. He didn't realize how much she was slowly impacting him. It was easy to communicate with her and he'd never thought he'd be able to talk to anyone. Nonetheless a girl. An attractive girl.

Maybe she wouldn't drop him right after he had finished helping her with math.

He sure hoped not.

* * *

It felt like the weight of the world was finally off of her shoulders. She had done what she needed.

Daryl had sheepishly offered her a ride home and she happily accepted. They were riding in his old pickup truck and she seemed to like this a lot better than that flashy convertible. The front seat was one long three seater, but they were each sitting on either side.

"Up here, on the left." She directed him as he turned onto her street. Shortly he had pulled up to the very end of her driveway and parked the truck. She turned to face him and smiled weakly, but he seemed to be paying attention to something other than her gaze. She gasped when he gently took the back of his thumb and wiped off a little bit of her foundation.

"How'd tha' happen?" He motioned towards the still new bruise under her eye. Carol immediately felt uncomfortable.

"It's nothing." She wasn't about to tell him it was Ed. She barely knew him. But she could tell by the look on his face that he knew.

"If he hurts ya again, ye' let me know. Alright?" Carol simply nodded.

"I'll see you tomorrow, Daryl." She smiled. "I had fun tonight." He gave her a small smile.

"I did too." She opened the door and hopped out. She turned to face him and handed him a small slip of paper.

"It's my number. If you ever want to get a hold of me." She nervously smiled at him as he sheepishly took the paper.

"Thanks." He mumbled without looking at him.

"Good night, Daryl."

"Night." She closed the door and walked up to her front door. He didn't start pulling out until she was inside. She smiled as she watched him drive away and then frowned. She wanted to spend more time with him. Locking the door, Carol started thinking to herself.

They had gone to school since middle school. Even then Ed had some sort of claim on her. She had always heard stories about the Dixon's. How they fought and stole and were no good. She never thought she'd be befriending the youngest. Her dad probably wouldn't be very happy to find this out. But he was always on business trips and rarely home, anyway.

Daryl Dixon was always spoken of as if he was some criminal, when he just seemed like a shy, unsure boy.

Guess appearances weren't always what they seemed.

She jumped out of her thoughts when her phone rang. Who was calling her at this time of the night? She read the caller I.D and sighed.

"Hello?" She answered the phone.

"Carol!" Lori's voice barked through the receiver. "You broke up with Ed?!" All Lori knew was gossip. Carol sighed.

"Yeah. I did. Look, I have to go to bed and I don't feel like having this conversation right now. I'll see you tomorrow." Before Lori could respond she had hung up the phone. Lori was like the gossip queen. She heard everything and anything. Quickly, she walked up the stairs and into her bedroom. Her drawing pad was calling her name.

She settled herself on her bed, pencil behind her ear and the drawing pad opened to her Cherokee Rose drawing. Carol smiled to herself when an idea came to mind. All she had done was a sketch, it still needed to be shaded and painted. Taking the pencil from behind her ear, she started redrawing the flower on a separate page.

She was going to make her friend a little gift.

* * *

**Sorry this chapter was just like a filler. I hope some of you liked it and I'm almost done with Chapter Four :)**


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter Four

**Hey guys! So... Some bad news. My laptop that I usually type on just died on me, for good, after six years :( But, I have my school Macbook Air I can type on :) But sadly, since its a school laptop, I probably wont have as much smut and there will probably be a drastic change in the swearing... Ha, I doubt it. I can just delete it after :) Anyway, the good news is that I'll be updating more often because I go to the library like everyday after school with this laptop! **

**So, I'm introducing a new character in this chapter :) They're one of my favorites who I think should've gotten much, much more time in the show. Also, a few OC's are being introduced!**

**Hope you enjoy this chapter, I've typed it over and over again and just, I'm not feeling it. **

* * *

It was even a hotter day than yesterday. The humidity was thick in the air and Carol could feel it stick to her skin. Her hair was sticking to the sides of her face and it was frizzy beyond belief.

She tried to run her fingers through it to calm it down, only to have her fingers get tangled in the red, curly mess that was her hair. Sighing, she took a hair tie and did her hair up in a bun, leaving two curly strands hanging down by each side of her face. It did little to help her. She waved a piece of folded up paper in front of her face and tried focusing on what was written on the board in front of her. She felt lucky she wasn't the teacher.

Mr. Brooks was dressed in a long sleeved shirt, accompanied with a plaid tie, beige dress pants and dress shoes with long black socks. She didn't know what that man must've been thinking when he got dressed that morning. Even she was wearing less than usual. She was wearing jean capris and a quarter sleeve blue shirt and a pair of sandals. It may have not seemed like much to others, but it was a brave choice for her. She was so happy it was Friday. That meant she could sit in her pool all weekend.

School had started in late August and it seemed like it was still Summer in the middle of September with how the sun was acting up. You could never predict Georgia weather. The only thing that seemed to be getting her through this class was the fact that math was next. She smiled to herself. In less then five minutes, she'd be in math and talking with Daryl. She really had had fun last night and was hoping they could go studying at the diner more, but with how Philip confronted her last night, she wasn't sure if she'd feel comfortable doing it again. Carol shook her head a little. She shouldn't let assholes like him make her feel uncomfortable. She wasn't letting anyone control her anymore.

When the bell rang for the next class she literally jumped out of her seat and hurried to her locker. She was in such a rush that she ran into someone, causing both of their books and binders to fall to the ground in a pile.

"I am so sorry!" She exclaimed as she crouched down and starting organizing the pile of mess. The poor person she ran into crouched down in front of her and started collecting their own things. They handed her one of her poetry books.

"I believe this is yours." Carol looked up at the voice now. It was a boy, appeared to be their age. He had slicked back, blonde hair and round rimmed glasses that he pushed up to the bridge of his nose as his other hand was still extended out, holding her book. She smiled slightly and took the book from him.

"Thank you." She smiled again. "I'm so sorry for running into you, I guess I just wasn't paying attention." He put up one of his hands for her to stop as he collected the last of his things.

"It's as much my fault. I've been pretty nervous and a little... Out of it since I've started attending this school." They both stood up.

"Oh, so you're new here?" He gave her a direct nod.

"Yes, we moved here just a few days ago and this is my first day here. And honestly, you're the nicest person I've run into." He shook his head a little as she chuckled. "I didn't intend for a joke there." He smiled slightly. He pushed his glasses up again and extended his hand once more. "How rude of me, I'm Milton Mamet." She smiled and shook his hand.

"Nice to meet you, Milton. I'm Carol Sanders." His brows pulled together as they pulled their hands away.

"Is your dad any chance Louis Sanders? Of Sanders Construction?" Carol nodded slightly. How had he known that if they had just moved here? Milton must've seen her perplexed look because he quickly explained. "My father just got a job there as an architect. That's why we had to move down here." She smiled.

"Oh! Well, thats nice. My dad has been stressing to me about how much they need a new architect." The second bell rang and Carol exclaimed a little. If you weren't in class before the third bell, you were marked down late. "I best get to class. It was nice meeting you, Milton." She went to step around him when he stopped her.

"Could you help me? I'm still trying to figure out where classes are here. I have math with Mr. Macgregor next." He said, squinting his eyes at his schedule.

"Oh, of course! That's my next class too!" She smiled and started walking, motioning for him to follow her. They both stepped into class as soon as the third bell rang. Carol quickly took her seat beside Daryl while avoiding the teachers glare. Milton stayed standing, timidly in the middle of the room. "Milton," she turned a little to face him, "You can sit on the other side of Daryl, if you'd like." He only nodded slightly at her and took the empty seat, looking down the whole time. She turned back forward and rested her forearms on her desk. Daryl leaned over close to her.

"Who the hell is that?" He whispered in her ear and she laughed a little. Daryl wasn't fond of new people, and it appeared Milton wasn't to comfortable around them, either. She had a feeling Milton and Daryl could be good friends.

"His names Milton. I kind of like run into him in the hallway." She whispered back and Daryl smirked.

"Good going, klutz." She laughed and swatted his arm, playfully.

"Oh, shut up." She mumbled and the smirk stayed on his face as he leaned away and sat back in his chair.

* * *

Daryl studied the nerdy looking kid beside him from the corner of his eye.

He hadn't spoken a single word and seemed to have his nose stuck in some book, obviously not related to math.

" 'Ey kid, what's tha' yer readin', there?" Milton looked up at Daryl and his eyes had a nervous gaze behind his round glasses.

"It's, uh, a book by Stephen King. Have you heard of him?" Daryl only nodded slightly. He had never read any of his books, but he knew he wrote some scary shit. He would've never picked Milton as a Stephen King kind of guy. "It's one of his older ones, uh Misery. It's quite good." He smiled nervously before he brought his attention back to the book. Daryl turned his attention away from Milton and over to Carol, who was biting her pencil in frustration. He laughed a little and took the pencil away from her mouth.

"Lunch is in less then an hour, don' gotta go eatin' yer pencil." She smiled weakly and set her pencil down on the table.

"I end up doing that when I'm frustrated." She sighed wearily as Daryl picked up her paper. He had finished his quickly and even Milton had beaten her around the bend. He studied her work and was pleased to see that she had gotten less problems wrong than usual. That's a start, right? He lied the paper back down on her desk and took his own, unbitten pencil and wrote down a few notes for her on a separate piece of lined paper.

"Keep those in yer' binder. They're basic math notes and they can help wit' most math. Including tha'." He pointed at the math paper with the eraser of his pencil. She studied the notes for a few seconds before nodding at him.

"Okay," She smiled that big smile he loved. "Thanks." And then she was erasing her original work and starting over. He couldn't help but stare, once again. Usually her hair was down and her curls were flowing freely. Today, she had her hair up in a bun and strands of curls hung by the sides of her face. It was another, hot Georgia day, and she wasn't helping him any.

Daryl shook his head slightly and brought his gaze to the top of his desk while chewing on his thumbnail. The lunch bell rang sooner than he expected and Carol seemed eager to get out of that class.

"Milton?" She asked as he stayed seated. "Would you like to sit with us at lunch?" Milton looked up at her from his seat and sheepishly nodded.

"That'd be nice." He stood up from his seat and followed them out of the classroom. Daryl couldn't help but be a little jealous. He enjoyed spending time with Carol and only Carol. But, he supposed he could give Milton a chance. He knew what it was like to sit by yourself at lunch, and it sucked. The three of them where on their way to the cafeteria when Carol nearly stopped in her tracks. She was staring at a man, who thought it'd be a smart idea to wear a tuxedo in this weather, that was approaching her. Daryl and Milton stood beside her as the man finally stopped in front of her.

"Hey, baby girl." He pulled her in for a hug and that's when Daryl realized, the slender man in front of her was her father. He looked all way to professional. He had slicked back, black hair and dark blue eyes, that Carol must've inherited from him. Once Carol pulled away, she smiled slightly.

"What're you doing here?" She looked real surprised. It seemed like she hadn't seen her dad in ages. Her dad shrugged slightly.

"Thought I'd take you out for some lunch." His gaze went from Carol to Milton and himself. "Milton Mamet, is that you?" His smile widened as he shook Milton's hand. "Your father is a joy to be around. He's real smart, real smart."

"Thank you, sir." The older mans attention then went to Daryl.

"I don't believe I've met you before." _Bet you've heard of me._ Daryl felt nervous for some odd reason. Maybe the fact that this was Carol's father and he didn't want him banning Carol from being around him once he finally realized who he was. Daryl shook his head slightly.

"No, I don' think we have. I'm Daryl." Surprising everyone, mainly himself, Daryl stuck out his hand for a handshake. Her father studied him for a minute before shaking it.

"I'm Louis Sanders. Carol's father." He seemed to make that a real point. Daryl could feel Carol's gaze on the two of them. He peered over at her once both of their hands were at their sides and she was biting her lip. She seemed just as nervous as he was. "Well," Her fathers voice had him ripping his gaze away from Carol and once again at her father. "We have about... Thirty minutes. Lunch at the diner sound good?" She looked over at Milton and Daryl with eyes sad, as if she was saying sorry for having to leave them. This was her father. He wished his father would do things like this for him. He didn't want her feeling bad.

"Have fun." He gave her a genuine smile that she returned.

"Lunch is in my locker. I packed for me and you, so if Milton doesn't have a lunch you can give him mine." Then she wrote her locker combination on his hand with a pen that was tucked behind her ear, earlier. He liked feeling her hand gripping his...

_Knock it off._

His own subconscious came through right then and he simply looked away as she wrote on his hand. Once she was finished, he looked at her and her father once again.

"See you later." She waved to the both of them before her and her dad walked off. He watched before looking down at the nerdy kid beside him.

"Ye' got a lunch?" He simply shook his head. "Well, Carol is awful generous. Looks like you're stuck with me for lunch." And with a smirk, Daryl walked over to Carol's locker and put in the combination that was written on his hand.

* * *

Carol and her father talked over a helping of pepperoni pizza.

"So how've you been?" He asked once he had finished his bite. She shrugged a little and took a bite of her own pizza.

"Pretty good." He smiled.

"And school's been good?" She nodded and took a sip of her refreshing drink.

"Yeah. I kind of found myself a tutor for math." She saw her fathers eyebrows pull into a frown.

"And how much is that costing?" Carol shook her head quickly and took another bite of her pizza.

"Nothing. Daryl's tutoring me. He's really good." Her father pushed his empty plate to the side and folded his hands on the tabletop.

"Don't you think maybe he's a little... Dangerous to be around?" She cleared her throat and took another bite of pizza.

"No, I don't." She snapped quickly and her father was about to say something else when someone approached their booth. Carol looked up at a familiar face.

"Hello, Carol." Her blonde hair flowed freely over her shoulders. "Louis." She looked over at her father and her red lips parted, revealing a set of gleaming white teeth. Her manipulative green eyes were set on her father as he stood up and shook her hand.

"Angela." He gave her a slight smile before sitting back in his seat and her gaze went back to Carol. Angela was Ed's mother. And Carol could tell she was here to see what she could stir up.

"We missed you last night at dinner." Thursdays were when Carol usually went over for dinner. She nodded politely and kept her gaze on the woman towering in front of her.

"Actually, I won't be coming to dinner on Thursdays anymore." Angela didn't look shocked, or surprised. Her face stayed as hard as stone and she still had that evil grin on her face.

"Oh? And why's that?" Carol looked over at her fathers bewildered gaze and then back at the woman.

"Because, Ed and I are no longer together." Still no hint of surprise. Her father, on the other hand, instantly shot up and was now looking down at Carol also.

"What happened with you and Ed?" He asked harshly and she could feel herself gritting her teeth.

The only reason this meant so much to her father was because Ed's dad, Marcus, and her own had been friends for a while. And she was pretty sure that when Marcus and Angela had split up, her dad and her had a thing. They hid it from everyone else pretty well, but Carol knew something was up. She had actually woken up and walked downstairs to see Angela holding her heels in one hand and her hair a jumbled mess as she walked out a door. Carol cringed as she remembered that morning.

"Carol!" She snapped out of her thoughts when she heard her fathers voice say her name much louder than needed. "Answer the question." She sighed and adjusted in her seat as two pairs of eyes stared at her, expectantly.

"I broke up with Ed, last night, actually." As soon as the words left her mouth her father spoke.

"And why would you do something stupid like that? It's because of that Dixon boy, isn't it?" Carol couldn't help but scoff out loud. Her dad didn't know what Ed was like. He was cruel. Seventeen, but pure fucking evil. He didn't care who he hurt or how he hurt them. He could manipulate people, just like his mother could. He could make them feel worthless, stupid, helpless. And then he'd make them think the only one who would ever care for them was him. Or at least, that's what he did with her. It wasn't until she met Daryl that she realized what he was doing to her wasn't okay. That he should've never put his hands on her. Daryl was in some way, her savior. She could tell he would give her the strength she would need. No one knew Daryl, like she was quickly getting to know him. The whole town still judged him, and it appeared even her father did and that sickened her.

"It wasn't stupid, Dad." She finally answered, standing up herself. "He was nothing but bad news." Carol looked over at Angela who was just watching them with a smug smile planted on her face. This was her whole setup, her design. She'd plot two people to go against each other and claw at each others throats. It didn't matter who it was. Brother and sister, husband and wife, in her case, father and daughter. Hell, she could probably even turn stranger and stranger against each other if she chose the right words.

Carol shook her head slightly when she realized she was falling into her little trap. She hadn't seen her father in a solid two weeks and the last thing she wanted to do was argue with him over something as stupid as Ed. Eyeing the clock, she sighed in almost desperation as she stepped around the two of them.

"I have to get back to class. Thanks for lunch, dad." She turned and looked at Angela. "And thanks for ruining that lunch." She gave them both a smile before walking outside.

Why? That was all that went through her mind as she angrily walked down the street and back to school. Why did people see Ed as if he was some perfect kid? Why did people look at Daryl, cautiously, everywhere he seemed to go? Why couldn't she get Ed out of her life? Why couldn't her father not take sides with that bitch? Why couldn't things just be easier? She had answers for a few of the questions she was asking herself, she just didn't want to face them.

She took several deeps breaths, attempting to calm herself down, before walking through the front doors of the school and into the cafeteria. Her eyes scanned the room for Daryl and Milton. When she found them, she had expected to see them awkwardly eating their lunch in silence, but she saw them actually chatting up a storm. She couldn't tell what they were talking about, but they seemed real interested in what one another had to say.

Not wanting to interrupt, she backed out of the cafeteria, feeling a bit happier after seeing that scene and walked back to math class early. She figured she could get a head start on finally finishing those math problems.

* * *

Milton Mamet had not expected his day to be going like this.

He had met an attractive, nice girl and now he was having lunch with Daryl Dixon. The redneck had scared him at first. Even though he had been in town for only a few days, rumors of the Dixon's spread like wildfire.

Milton had expected to meet a mean, grouchy, dangerous boy when he first laid eyes on Daryl. But really, he was just shy and quite soft-spoken. Kind of like how he was himself.

They had been chatting about numerous things. Math, which Daryl seemed to know a lot about. Science, which seemed to be something Milton was better at then him. Now, somehow, they were on the subject of girls. Milton wasn't sure how they had ended up on that topic. He was incredibly closed when it came to girls and it seemed that Daryl wasn't exactly an open book about it.

"Tha' one over there seems to have 'er eye on ya." He nodded his head towards the direction of a girl. Milton turned to look at her and saw her smile at him and give him a small wave. He returned it as he studied her features.

She had curly hair, which looked somewhat like Carol's, except this girls hair was a dark brown. Her eyes were brown also and she had the brightest smile Milton had ever seen. He turned back and faced Daryl.

"What's her name?" He gave him a shrug.

"Hell if I know. I think it starts wit' a K... Katelynn maybe?" Daryl seemed to be talking to himself more than Milton. He shook his head slightly. "Naw, I don' think thats right. Kathy? No. K... Karen!" He looked up at Milton. " 'er name is Karen. And she seems to be real interested in ya." Daryl's lips turned into a smirk and Milton pushed his glasses up to the bridge of his nose.

"I wouldn't say that. I'm not exactly a sight for sore eyes." He shrugged a little bit and cleared his throat and asked a question that he hoped would get the attention off of him. "Now, what about you and girls?" Daryl scoffed at that question and shook his head. Milton felt his eyebrows pull into a frown. "Isn't Carol your girlfriend?" Milton had thought Carol was one of the most beautiful girls he had ever seen when he had first laid eyes on her and was very interested in getting to know her. And then when he saw her and Daryl together, he instantly thought they were a couple. They sure seemed like it with the way they looked and talked to each other.

Daryl's face hardened at the question and he shook his head.

"She ain't my girlfriend." Surely he was lying to him.

"Really? It seemed like-"

"She ain't my girlfriend!" Daryl snapped and Milton could feel himself flinch. He looked instantly sorry. " 'Ey, man. I'm sorry fer yellin'. Carol isn't my girlfriend, let's leave it at tha'." Milton only nodded, not wanting to make him angry again.

After that, lunch was pretty silent. Neither one of them made much effort for small talk. Milton's eyes wandered around the crowded cafeteria and his eyes stopped at a group of football players. One of them, a bulky looking one, was glaring straight at Daryl.

"Who is that?" He asked, Daryl looked the way Milton's gaze was.

Daryl cursed out loud and shook his head.

"Ain't no one important. It's Carol's ex, and he's a bit of a bully, ta put it lightly." From the look on the rednecks face, Milton could tell Daryl didn't want to talk much about him either and Milton wasn't going to push it. The man glaring Daryl's way looked real intimidating. He made a mental note to make sure to stay as fair away from him as possible.

The lunch bell rang and Daryl and Milton quickly made their way back to math class.

" 'Ey kid," Daryl said suddenly, as they walked in the hall, "Yer' alright. Other then them damn glasses, ye look like Harry Potter or somethin'." Both Milton and Daryl grinned. Milton was about to say that Harry Potter was strictly a fictional character, but decided to keep his mouth shut.

Daryl seemed real nice, but he was still pretty darn scary.

* * *

**So, definitely not my best chapter. :( **

**I don't know whats going on with me. Writers block sucks. It might help if I actually planned stuff out, but I'm not good at planning. Ugh. Oh, and I just needed to mention Stephen King, being from Maine and all! He's so amazing. **

**Well, I hope some of you out there liked this chapter. I'm hoping the next one will be better. I think I have some sort of plan forming... ;)**


	5. Chapter 5

**Hey guys! Hope I didn't keep you waiting to long. Not much to say about this chapter, other than I liked writing this one. Oh yeah... SIX DAYS LEFT! I'm so excited! Pray with me that there will be some Caryl action! Thanks everyone for all the reviews, follows, favorites! They put smiles on my face :) **

**Hope you enjoy!**

Rain pattered down on the rooftop and it seemed to be coming down in sheets.

Carol watched from her spot on the couch as a streak of lightning shot across the sky. She sighed to herself and sunk deeper into the couch. The storm had been going on since this morning and it didn't look like it was letting up anytime soon.

So much for sitting in her pool this weekend.

She sighed as she flicked on the television and searched for something to watch. This wasn't how she had wanted to spend her Saturday afternoon, but it was pouring outside and she didn't have a car and there was no way she was walking anywhere. So it looked like she was stuck inside until the storm was over. Carol lied on her side and covered herself with the thin blanket on top of the couch. She rested the remote on the table when she settled on watching some cut-rate zombie movie. What else was she going to watch?

She was only half way into the movie when her phone rang beside the couch. She weakly felt around for it and lifted it up to her eyesight, hoping she would read an unknown number and it'd be Daryl on the other end. He still hadn't called her and she was starting to feel foolish for giving him her number. Much to her disappointment, it was her father calling her and not Daryl.

They hadn't spoken since she stormed out of the diner yesterday and she was still upset with how things acted out during their lunch. Sighing, she answered the phone.

"Hello?" She heard her dad blow out a sigh in relief through the receiver.

"Carol."

"Hi, daddy." She huffed, and paid more attention to the T.V screen than to her father.

"I just wanted to call and let you know I'm going to be out of state for a few weeks." It didn't surprise her much. That must've been the reason he took her out to lunch yesterday, was because he knew he was going out of state.

"Where?" Was all she asked.

"New York. They need us to build a new store." Her father had gone to a lot of cities, but never to New York. That was somewhere she had always wanted to go. See a show on Broadway, go to Madison Square Garden. She was envious.

"Oh, sounds interesting." Carol answered blandly. All she wanted to do was hang up the phone and just get back to her dumb movie. "So, I guess I shouldn't keep you. Bye dad." She was about to hang up the phone when her father stopped her.

"Wait, Carol. I love you, you know that, right?" She knew he was saying this, referring to yesterday.

"I know dad. I love you, too." And then she hung up the phone and pulled the blanket up to her chin. It was still pouring down, hard. She sighed and made herself comfortable on the couch.

It looked like she was going to be there all day.

* * *

Daryl covered his face with his pillow, hoping it would block out some of the sound coming from his brothers room. No luck.

His brother was screwing another random girl, not making any effort to be quiet and Daryl had nowhere to go. Outside was a shit storm. Rain was pouring down, the wind was blowing strong and thunder was rumbling in the skies. There was no way he'd be able to drive in weather like this.

"Merle!" He heard an exasperated shout from his brothers room and groaned out loud. He threw a baseball that was on his bureau at the wall.

"Merle, could you two shut the hell up!?" After that shout, Merle only made sure things were louder. Daryl got up and walked out into the living room and turned on the T.V. turning it up as loud as it could go. It did little to help, but at least it did something. Between the thunder, Merle and the T.V, he was getting a real headache.

Moaning and groaning continued pouring out of his brothers room and Daryl bit on his thumbnail, a little too hard. He tasted blood when he accidentally bit onto the skin of his thumb. It didn't phase him, his mind seemed to be a whirlwind of thoughts. Thoughts of Carol, as usual.

He seemed to be thinking about her a lot. The past week had been an eventful one. They started talking, and she quickly befriended him. Then, she broke up with Ed, like it was needed, and they went to the diner together. Daryl wasn't sure what that was. It was supposed to be to study, but they didn't do any studying. They just talked, hours on end. Mostly her talking, and him throwing in a comment here or there, sometimes even making her laugh. And then he drove her home, and she gave him her number. Daryl didn't know what to call it.

The word '_date'_ went through his mind a few times, but there was no way in hell that could be true. He didn't want to get his hopes up, either. Carol was just a... Friend. Hell, he nearly yelled at Milton when he insinuated that Carol and Daryl were dating. He couldn't help but be a little embarrassed. It seemed that Daryl had nearly scared the pants off of Milton. He was, in all fairness, kind of a nerd, but, he was a pretty cool kid. Daryl liked him. He was... Odd. Different. Not another jock who needed to know where the hell their place was, instead of thinking they were tough shit and the ruler of the school. One certain person came to mind as Daryl thought about jocks.

Ed.

The name had him scowling, even if his name wasn't said out loud. He barely knew him, but he could tell he didn't like him. He needed to get his mind off of Ed before he punched his fist through the wall. The mans name alone made his blood boil.

So, he went back to thinking about Carol. He wondered what she was doing right now. _Probably stuck in her house, dumbass. _The storm was still going strong. He didn't like it, but he wasn't about to start complaining, either. Just yesterday he was complaining about the hot weather. The weather that had Carol reeling for some sort of coldness. Like when she had that water bottle pressed against her forehead. Daryl could still picture that day at lunch, and still had the same reaction then, that he did that very day.

"Fuck." He growled, closing his eyes. He couldn't go and take the cold shower he desperately needed. It was lightning out, and he wasn't about to go get himself electrocuted. He just needed to take his mind off of Carol, think of cold things.

Rain. The rain outside. Water. The water bottle pressed against Carol's forehead.

"God dammit!" He shouted, opening his eyes again and running his fingers through his hair. He blew out a heavy breath. Looked like he wasn't going to get his mind off of Carol, and it looked like his situation wasn't going to get any better. He silently prayed for the storm to be over, and soon.

He really needed that cold shower.

* * *

Angela Peletier was looking at her reflection in the mirror in front of her.

She dabbed at her red lipstick with the tip of her pointer finger and pucked her lips. Her usually straight hair was in curls, resting neatly on her shoulders. She was in the middle of applying mascara as Louis walked into her bedroom.

"Did you call your daughter?" She asked, blandly, while finishing applying the mascara. Louis only nodded and blew out a heavy breath. "Whats your problem, then? Ed will be at his dads, Carol thinks you're on business. We get to go to New York for a month without kids. It's going to be fun." She was eyeing him in the mirror as he sat on the edge of her bed.

"I suppose so." He gave her a very weak smile and stared at his cell phone in his hands. Angela rolled her eyes before taking one final look at herself in the mirror.

"We need to go if we want to make it to the plane in time." She turned to face him and he stood up. "Why are you being such a downer, Louis?" He sighed heavily.

"I don't like lying to my daughter." She stood in front of him and ran a hand over his slicked back hair. He really just needed to shut up about the whole thing. Lying to your kid wasn't that awful. It certainly never made her feel bad when she lied to Ed, and he didn't need to feel bad about lying to a daughter like Carol, it didn't matter.

"It'll be fine. We have reservations to the best hotel in New York, and I bet they have thick walls." She gave him a smirk that he returned and she quickly kissed him. She knew just how to work him. "Now," She picked up her purse and did a little twirl. "Lets get to the airport."

* * *

Carol was going to go stir crazy!

It had stopped thundering and lightning, but it was still pouring outside. She had watched two different movies, painted her toenails and even taken a nap. And to make matters worse, Lori had been texting her non-stop about Ed. Now she was just pacing around her house, aimlessly.

She felt like... Like... She didn't know what! All she knew that she needed to have something to entertain herself or she would go crazy. The only thing on her mind was Daryl. That seemed to be the only thing on her mind, nowadays. She was thinking about the other day at the diner and how much fun she had had and how she really wanted to hang out with him out of school, again. Maybe she could invite him over for dinner sometime.

Her father was going to be gone for a few weeks and she would probably go crazy being by herself in her big house. She could invite Daryl, and Milton, maybe even Daryl's brother. Carol smiled to herself as she made plans. She could cook up her pasta dish and make an apple pie for dessert. She was getting giddy just thinking about having them over! Her phone rang, causing her to jump out of her thoughts.

Carol groaned out loud as she walked to her glass table in the living room and picked up her phone. She was silently praying it wasn't Lori or her father. When she read an unknown number she smiled to herself. Maybe it was Daryl _finally _calling her. She inhaled sharply before answering the phone.

"Hello?" She said brightly into the receiver.

* * *

"Hello?" He heard a perky voice come through the phone. Why the hell was she so happy?

For a second, Ed almost hung up the phone to make sure he had the right number. He had called Carol from his fathers phone, knowing that she wouldn't recognize the number. He had called her to see what she sounded like. He was positive she would be in sorrow over breaking up with him and that she'd come crawling back to him. When a few days had passed, and that still hadn't happened Ed had gotten worried.

"Hello?" She questioned again. "Daryl? Is that you?" That fucking redneck. Thats why she was so happy when she answered the phone! She had thought it was Daryl. Instead of saying anything, in fear that she would recognize his voice, he just breathed steadily into the phone. Was she already in a relationship with that redneck? Is that why she broke up with him? For _Daryl?_ Ed groaned in disgust and then immediately cursed himself, silently. "Alright, Daryl, if that's you and you thought you'd play some practical joke on me, ha ha, very funny." Ed gritted his teeth.

"This ain't Daryl." He spoke up, finally. Silence was all that he got for a response and he thought she had hung up, but he didn't hear her hang up the phone.

"Ed?" Carol seemed to squeak out on the other end of the phone.

"Don't hang up the phone, Carol." He was trying to be reasonable.

"Give me one damn good reason why I shouldn't hang up right now!" She yelled through the phone and that made Ed grit his teeth again. Nobody spoke to him like that. But, he didn't want her hanging up the phone before he got his word in, so he remained calm.

"I just want to talk to you." He heard Carol scoff on the other end.

"You had three years to talk. It's a little late now, don't you think?" She snapped at him and he tightened his grip on the phone in his hand so hard, he thought it might snap.

"Carol..."

"No, Ed, listen. I don't want you in my life anymore. Not now, not ever again. I put up with you for three years. I put up with a very unhealthy relationship for three years. I put up with the abuse, and anger and fear and I'm not even out of high school. That isn't normal or okay. I'm not yours anymore. So, l suggest you lose my number." He heard her chuckle. "And next time you want your dirty work done, don't send Philip Blake to do it." With that, she hung up the phone and Ed stood there, phone still to his ear, dumbfounded.

Who did she think she was? Hanging up the phone, Ed gritted his teeth. Sure, he wouldn't call her again. He'd find other ways to let her know she wasn't getting away that easy and that this was not over.

* * *

Why wouldn't he just leave her alone? Could he not take a hint? She didn't want him in her life, anymore.

Carol had been so excited. She had thought it was Daryl calling her, but it was really Ed. She grimaced at his name. She did not want anything to do with him, ever again. When she had yelled at him on the phone, she was just trying to act tough but truthfully, she was scared beyond belief. Carol cursed at herself for letting him scare her. She shouldn't let him get to her anymore. But, when he called her up and had others harass her for him, it was hard.

When her phone rang again, her breath literally hitched in her throat. What if he was calling her again? Carol read the number and was relieved it wasn't the one she had just answered moments ago. Clearing her throat, she answered the phone.

"Hello?" She answered, not as perky as last time.

"Carol?" A familiar husky voice came through the other end and she smiled when she immediately recognized it as Daryl. Finally. He was just who she needed to talk to.

"Hey, Daryl." She tried not to sound to eager.

"Uh, you alright?" Was he able to tell she was upset? "I mean, wit' the storm goin' on and everything. I don' know if ye scared of thunder..." She chuckled slightly. It was sweet that Daryl check up on her, even over something silly like thunder.

"I'm fine. Thanks. Thunder doesn't scare you, does it?" She couldn't help but tease him. This time, Daryl chuckled.

"Naw." She smiled slightly. Her heart started to race when her idea from earlier came back to mind.

"So, Daryl. Can I ask you something?" She bit her lip nervously when he was silent for a few seconds.

"Wha'?" Carol bit her lip again before answering.

"I was wondering if maybe you and Merle would want to come over for dinner tomorrow. I'm inviting Milton, too. And, I'm making pasta. Unless, you don't like that, I could make something else." Daryl cut her off.

"Me and my brother? I- I know I could make it, but I'll have ta' ask Merle." Smiling to herself, Carol let out a sigh of relief.

"I hope he can make it. I'm sure Milton will be able to."

"Yeah, Milton's cool." Daryl mumbled into the phone. Carol eyed the clock and was surprised to see it was almost nine.

"I have to go. Thanks for calling me, Daryl." Before hanging up, she gave him her address and what time to be at her house. "See you tomorrow." She beamed. Hanging up, she looked out the window and smiled big.

Even the weather couldn't dampen her mood.

* * *

**Well, hope you enjoyed! Next chapter will be the dinner :)**

**Thanks for reading!**


	6. Chapter 6

**Yay! Another chapter! I was so happy to read the reviews for the last chapter, they put a smile on my face :) A lot of you were commenting about the relationship between Carol's dad and Ed's mom, don't worry! I have planssssss. Anyway, the dinner chapter! I loved writing this one and I'm really liking this story :) **

**I'd also like to thank DucksFan1510 for their suggestions and very nice reviews. I hope my future chapters don't disappoint you! And I'm definitely going to be using your suggestions in a near chapter! PM me if you ever have anymore!**

**Hope you all enjoy!**

* * *

"Dinner?" Merle scoffed out loud at his brother. "I ain't goin' to no damn dinner, boy. I don' wanna have to get dressed up fancy and e'erything." He took a large gulp of his beer, eyes fixed on the baseball game on the T.V instead of Daryl.

"Come on, Merle." Daryl almost whined like a two year old. He had been trying to convince Merle to go to dinner at Carol's for almost an hour now and his older brother didn't seem like he was budging. "We don' gotta worry 'bout pa findin' out. He ain't supposed ta' be back for another few days."

"Nope." He let the 'p' pop of his tongue, eyes still focused on something other than him.

"Merle, you don' gotta dress up. We're just going for some dinner and dessert, it ain't like we're meeting th' damn Queen of England." Even though it felt that important to him. "Carol wont mind ya wearin' what you normally do and-" Daryl was cut off by his brother who was now finally looking at him.

"Carol? Is that th' girl you've been in cahoots with? The one ye' sneaked out fer the other night?" Merle had the shit eating grin on his face that Daryl _hated. _

"I ain't in no cahoots with 'er, Merle. 'm just helpin' 'er with math, tha's all." The grin on Merle's face got even bigger.

" 'nd hows she repayin' ya?" Daryl glared at his brother.

"It ain't like tha' ye sick bastard. She's just a friend." Merle ignored his words and kept asking perverted questions. Classic Merle.

"Is she hot?" Daryl glared at him again. " 'Ey little brother, I'm just askin' questions tha' need to be asked. You did say dinner _and_ dessert, right?" Merle smirked again as he downed the last sip of his beer. Daryl clenched his fists at his side and bit his lip, angry. Daryl had never set a hand on his brother; mostly because he knew Merle could, and would, kick his ass, but if he kept talking about Carol like this, Daryl was going to have to at least give him a black eye.

"Would ya please come ta' dinner?" Daryl asked the words again, more flat than the other times he had asked before. He didn't want his brother there, but it seemed to be an idea that Carol wanted. Much to Daryl's surprise, Merle nodded as he crumpled the beer can in his hands and threw it behind his shoulder, not caring where it landed.

"Ye' didn' tell me I'd be meetin' yer' little girlfriend. I'll be there, but I ain't dressin' in no damn tie." Daryl brushed off Merle's remark about Carol being his girlfriend and started walking to his room.

"We need ta' be there by seven." And with that, Daryl shut his door and plopped down on the edge of his bed.

He wasn't sure why, but he was nervous as hell for this dinner.

* * *

Today was a blur.

Carol had been giddy from the moment she woke up that Sunday morning. She had dinner with the Dixon brothers and Milton, tonight, and _everything _needed to be perfect. Not for Milton or Merle, but for Daryl. She felt the urgent responsibility to impress him and she had spent the time she had woken up till now to clean, even though her house really didn't need it, clean some more and then go around the house for a third time, fixing a crooked picture frame or a stray shoe in the middle of the carpet.

Now, she was sitting on the countertop, drinking a bottle of water and scanning the room with her eyes. Her eyes stopped on the vase of Cherokee Roses that sat in the middle of her kitchen table. Carol hadn't even noticed they were drooping and dying. She had been so busy and her thoughts had been miles away that she had completely forgot about changing the flowers water.

Gently jumping off the countertop, Carol grabbed the vase with one hand and took the flowers out by their stem with the other. Tossing the dead flowers in the trash, she dumped the gross, brown looking water into the sink and washed out the vase. She set the newly clean vase back down in its spot on the table before walking outside.

The still wet grass spolshed under her bare feet and she cursed at herself mentally for being so stupid to forget to put shoes on. The storm had stopped very early this morning and the grass was still wet, stray rain drops still pattered off her roof and onto her porch. She could smell the pleasant scent of the Cherokee Roses before she even approached them. Instead of immediately walking over to the bushes planted in front of her house, she stood in the grass; now not minding that the grass was cold and wet under her feet.

Carol looked around, taking in the gorgeous surroundings. The sky was free of most clouds, the hot sun had returned. Pleasant scents of Cherokee Roses and wet grass filled her nose and she smiled a sheepish smile. Some neighbors were out, washing their cars or walking their dogs. A few young children ran by her house, giggling, only causing her smile to grow bigger. Her small little neighborhood seemed a lot more alive then it had in a while and she enjoyed the sound of children laughing and even dogs barking.

As she looked around once more, she saw something that had her smile vanishing in an instant.

Ed.

He was doing some sort of pathetic slow drive by her house. Carol scoffed out loud as she saw Ed in the passenger seat, and Philip driving the car. No big surprise there. It was like Dumb and Dumber, when you saw one of them, you always knew the next nitwit was following behind. He stared right at her, and she stared back. She wasn't going to cower in fear, she was going to stand her ground. She didn't want him around anymore and she was going to let him know that. He glared at her as they finally drove all the way past her house and she rolled her eyes, turning her back to the road and focusing on the Cherokee Rose bushes.

Gently wrapping her hand around a stem, Carol pulled one flower out of the bush and held it in her hand while she picked a few more the same way. Walking back into her house, Carol hummed soundly to herself. She wasn't going to let anything bother her, not even Ed. Today was going to be a good day and dinner was going to be fantastic. Biting her lip, she filled the vase up with fresh water and placed the new Cherokee Roses in the vase. Smiling, she set the newly filled vase back in the middle of her wooden dinner table again.

Carol took a look around her now, over cleaned, house and gave a smug smile. But, it quickly vanished when she realized she had forgotten something majorly important.

"Oh my God, Milton!" She groaned in frustration when she just now remembered he had asked her to meet him at the high school after his Math Meet at three. Looking at the clock, she realized she was an hour late. Not caring that she was still in her pajama pants and a sweater, Carol rushed out of her house, making sure the door was locked so no unwanted visitors- or, more specifically, visitor- tried to do some snooping while she was gone.

Carol basically ran down the sidewalk to the high school. It wasn't far from her house, maybe only a ten minute walk, but she was so late and needed to get there as soon as possible. For all she knew, Milton was probably gone by now! So, she was surprised when found Milton, sitting on the concrete steps in front of the school. She approached him, a little out of breath and a sincere frown on her face.

"I am _so_ sorry!" She gasped and he stood up so he was eye level with her. "I was making sure everything was ready for dinner and I completely forgot. Milton, I am so sorry." He nodded and pushed his glasses back up to the bridge of his nose.

"It's quite alright. Gave me time to think." She didn't get a chance to ask what about when he spoke again. "Daryl is coming over for dinner, correct?" Milton asked, a little sheepish and Carol nodded.

"His brother, too." Milton's eyes widened at the thought of both Dixon's and him in one room. He gulped.

"Merle Dixon?" It appeared for the few days Milton was here, he had already heard of the Dixon legacy. Carol had never met Merle, but if he was anything like Daryl, he was okay in her book. She nodded.

"Yeah. I thought it'd be rude to invite only Daryl." Milton went to say something, when a group of girls approached them. They were wearing mathlete shirts like Milton, but instead of khakis, they were wearing skirts and black socks with black shoes. Carol recognized only a few of the girls. One of them was a pretty girl named Karen, who seemed to have all of Milton's attention. Carol smirked to herself.

"Hey, Milton. Great job at the Math Meet today." Karen smiled and tucked a stray piece of hair behind her ear.

"Thank you. You did a great job, too." Milton sheepishly replied. Carol laughed silently to herself. They were acting like a couple of awkward middle schoolers.

"Oh, no. If you hadn't solved that last equation we would've lost for sure." Carol watched as Milton's cheeks flushed a light shade of red as he thanked her, once again. Karen then turned her attention to Carol. "You're Daryl Dixon's girlfriend, right?" Carol could feel her mouth drop a little at the words. She quickly shook her head.

"No, no. I'm not his girlfriend. Where would you ever get that crazy idea?" She chuckled slightly and Karen tilted her head.

"Oh, you're not? I thought you were, goodness I feel so embarrassed now." Karen was now the one chuckling, awkwardly. "I just see you guys together all the time so I assumed. I'm so sorry."

"It's alright..."

"Karen, we gotta get to the diner. Ed and his friends are waiting." A young black girl named Jacqui said to Karen and Carol nearly choked on nothing when she had spoken those words.

"Ed?" She squeaked. "Ed Peletier?" Karen nodded and eyed Carol, oddly.

"Yeah, he asked some of my friends and I to meet him and his friends at the diner." She shrugged slightly and gave a weak smile. "Seems nice enough, so I said yes."

"Don't date him." Carol blurted out loud, causing her to get weird looks from the whole group of girls and even Milton.

"Excuse me?" Karen raised her eyebrows.

"Don't. Just, don't." It was awkwardly silent for a few moments, and everyone was still oddly staring at her. Suddenly, Karen raised her eyebrows again and narrowed her eyes.

"Are you... Jealous?" Carol scoffed out loud, but Karen didn't give her a chance to respond. "Carol, from what I heard around town _you _broke up with him, so you have no right whatsoever to be jealous. And I don't think it's any of your business who I do and don't date." Carol was gaping, she knew she was. She could feel her jaw drop and an uneasy feeling set in her stomach.

"Karen, I'm not jealous, I just-" She was cut off.

"Let's go, girls. We can't be late." Karen looked over at Milton and smiled. "I'll see you around, Milton." And with that the group of girls turned and walked down the sidewalk in the direction of the diner. The uneasy feeling stuck in the pit of her stomach lingered as she watched them walk away.

There was absolutely, no way in hell that she was jealous. She was worried sick, honestly. Carol didn't want Karen dating him because she didn't know how Ed really was, but Carol did. Carol knew he seemed real charming at first, and then he got ugly, nasty, mean. Abusive. And Carol didn't want another woman going through what she did with him. She looked up at Milton, who seemed as dumbfounded as she was, but also a little upset.

"Are you alright?" She quietly asked him. He nodded and adjusted his glasses.

"Are you?" He turned the attention around to her and she only nodded, also. "Ed isn't good news, is he?" Carol shook her head, looking down at her phone. Looking at the clock on her phone, she realized it was almost four-thirty and she still needed to get dinner prepared.

"We should head back to my place. I need to get dinner and dessert started." She said in the same, quiet voice. Milton nodded and they slowly started walking back to her house.

They were both silent the whole walk back.

* * *

His truck clattered to a loud stop in Carol's driveway.

Even though he had just stopped the truck, Daryl was still gripping the steering wheel with such force that his knuckles were white. If he hadn't been nervous before, he sure as hell was now.

He studied the house in front of him with awe. It was huge. Most houses were bigger than his, but this one was absolutely humungous. He wasn't sure how he was able to miss it when he had dropped her off the other night. Daryl checked the address he had written on the palm of his hand and then the one plastered on the mailbox. Yep, he was at the right house. Daryl heard Merle chuckle and turned his attention to his older brother in the passenger seat.

"She's loaded, ain't she baby brother?!" Merle hooted. "Don' even matter wha' she looks like, I'll screw 'er now." Daryl gripped the steering wheel tighter.

"Ye' stay away from 'er, Merle." There was no way in hell he was letting Merle near Carol. Not because she was his or anything, cause she wasn't, but because she knew that Merle wanted just that. A screw. Merle didn't care about any woman at all. Hell would freeze over before he actually cared for a woman.

" 'Ey, yer' th' one who badgered me to go to this damn dinner anyway." Merle opened the door and jumped out. "Let a man have a little fun." He chuckled and slammed the door shut. Daryl followed him quickly.

"I'm warnin' ya, Merle!" They were arguing now as they walked up the stairs. "Dammit, just act civil, please?!" Daryl groaned in frustration before he tapped lightly on the door, seemingly almost scared that he might mess something up if he touched it. They weren't even inside and he could tell the house was obviously very nice.

"So, what do ya think she's wearin'?" His brothers annoying voice returned. "A dress? Skirt? Maybe some tight jeans?"

"Shut. Up." Daryl gritted. For a minute, he thought he hadn't knocked the door loud enough and was about to go knock again when the door opened and there Carol stood, beautiful as always. She smiled at the two of them.

"Hi, Daryl! Hi, Merle!" Merle chuckled slightly and Daryl silently prayed that he wouldn't do anything stupid.

"Well hey there. Ya must be Carol. Daryl talks about ye' all the time!" Merle hooted and Daryl felt his face flush as Carol smiled slightly and looked at him and then back at his brother.

"Milton's waiting and I've almost got dinner ready. Please, come in." She stepped aside, opening the door wider so they could come in. Daryl stepped in first, then Merle. As Carol walked ahead of them, leading them to another room, his older brother whispered into his ear.

"Looks like she wore the tight jeans." Daryl glared and punched Merle in the side

immediately after he said that. " 'Ey!" He hissed and probably would've punched Daryl right in the stomach if they hadn't stepped into the kitchen right then. Both Merle and Daryl stopped in their tracks as the stared at the big, spacious room.

It had gleaming marble countertops and many different kitchen appliances. It had a lot more then Daryl's kitchen. All he had was a fridge and microwave, she had those and much more. Toaster, coffee maker, oven. Hell, she even had a few things he'd never even seen before. Something that caught his eye was the vase of flowers on her table. Cherokee Roses. Even though it made him seem like a big pussy, he loved those flowers. He came out of his thoughts when he saw Merle put a meaty arm around Milton's shoulders.

" 'Ey kid, ya don' gotta be shy. Ol' Merle here ain't gonna hurt ya." Milton looked more than uncomfortable. He looked like if he made one wrong move, he'd break under Merle's arms. So, he just pushed up his glasses, which he seemed to have a habit of doing, and nodded sheepishly. Merle patted his back a bit roughly, but took his arm away.

"Daryl? Could you help me with this, please?" Carol squeaked and handed him a jar of pasta sauce, that she seemed to be having a tough time getting the cap off of. Daryl took it from her hands and opened it almost effortlessly. He handed it back to her, smirking.

"I loosened it for you." She teased.

"Well, I thought ya was makin' a homemade meal. Using store bought pasta sauce is cheatin', Carol." He teased her right back, causing her to sheepishly smile.

"I'm not cheating. I add meatballs." She turned back around to the pot on the stove and filled it with the sauce.

"Uh huh." Daryl stood beside he and leaned his back against the counter. "And where do ya get those from?" Carol looked at him out of the corner of her eye as she stirred the sauce in the pot.

"The store." She mumbled and Daryl laughed. He couldn't help it. She was so easy to tease. Merle cleared his throat, louder than necessary and Daryl nearly groaned out loud.

"Carol, ye got any alcohol?" Daryl sent Merle a heated glare from across the room and Merle only shrugged slightly.

"No, I don't." Merle gaped in disbelief.

"Scotch?" Another no. "Tequila?" Nope. "Come on! Not even a beer?" Merle was nearly shouting. Carol turned around, caring the pot by the handle in her hand and walked over to the table, setting it down gently. She then placed her hands on her hips.

"Merle Dixon, I do not have alcohol in this house. I have water, ice tea or lemonade. Pick one." Daryl stifled a laugh, not all to well as he got a glare from his brother.

"Ah, God damn. I'll have a lemonade." He mumbled and sank down into a chair at the dinner table. Daryl couldn't believe Carol just said that to him! Quiet Carol Sanders set big old Merle Dixon in his place. It was one of the best things he'd witnessed all night, and it made him like the girl even more. Carol went around and scooped pasta onto four empty plates and then looked at the three of the boys in the room.

"Dinner is served." She smiled and sat down in a seat at one end of the table, across from Merle. Daryl sheepishly sat beside her and Milton sat in between him and Merle. He looked around the table in quiet awe. He had never seen so much food in his life! There was pasta, bread, hell, he didn't even know what some of the food was. All he knew was that he'd never been fed this much before. Usually him and Merle had sandwiches or deer meat. Sometimes they had nothing at all. The feeling of pity returned to Daryl's stomach. Carol was treating him and his brother better than their own father did. He eyed everyone at the table cautiously.

"You better eat your dinner, Dixon. I spent a good hour on this meal." Daryl looked up at Carol and smirked.

" 'Ey baby brother, if ya ain't gonna eat it, I will. Damn, can this woman cook!" His brother chuckled as he already started on his second helping of pasta. His brother and his table manners weren't that great. He probably had the munchies from some kind of drug, anyway. Daryl laughed slightly before starting to slowly eat his dinner. Merle was right, this tasted fantastic. He quickly found himself on his second helping and blushed a little when he looked over at Carol, who was smiling at him.

"Carol, if I say so myself, this is some good store bought pasta." He chuckled when she glared at him half heartedly.

"Hey! I added some... Kale in it. That means it's not entirely store made! And, I had to boil everything. Cooking is hard work, Dixon." She kicked his ankle gently under the table and he flinched a little before kicking her back just as gently. "Hey!" She laughed, throwing a balled up napkin at him. Daryl laughed and threw it back.

" 'Ey!" Merle shouted a little, causing everyones attention on him. "If ya'll could stop flirtin' for jus' a minute, can someone pass me th' bread?" He smirked and Daryl tossed a slice of bread at him, Merle barely catching it. Everyone at the table chuckled.

"You've been awful quite, Milton." Carol said as she cleaned up the now empty dinner plates. It was true. He hadn't uttered a word all dinner.

"Oh, my apologies. I've just been caught in thought." Daryl tilted his head and Carol set a slice of pie in front of Merle, Milton and himself. He looked up at her and gave her a slight nod in thanks before he started eating. Carol started washing dishes in the sink and continued talking to Milton.

"What about?" All eyes were on Milton as he adjusted slightly in his seat before answering.

"I was thinking about the situation at the school earlier." Carol blew out a quiet sigh as she continued washing dishes.

"Oh." Daryl raised his eyebrows.

"Why was ya at school on a Sunday?" He asked around a mouthful of pie. Milton was silent, as if he was waiting for Carol to answer. She did.

"Milton asked me to meet him there after his math meet."

"Which she was an hour late for." Milton added and Carol glared at him over her shoulder. Daryl laughed as he stood up to scrape off the crumbs left on his plate into the trash. He gently set the plate into the sudsy water of the sink and Carol smiled slightly at him. He smiled back before sitting back down in his seat.

"So what th' hell happened tha' made ye think so much?" Merle piped in, completely seeming to forget the fact he had a mouthful of pie as he spoke. Daryl glared at him. He didn't need him acting like this in Carol's house. His brother only smirked as he shoveled more pie into his mouth. This time, Milton and Carol were silent, neither of them answered. Daryl could tell they were both uncomfortable and wanted to know what happened, but he didn't want to push the envelope. Merle, on the other hand, did just that.

"Aw, come on, Milty! Don' be so quiet! And you," he pointed at Carol, "I may of just met ya, but I can tell ye like ta' talk." Carol smiled weakly as she dried her hands on a dish towel, but still didn't say anything. Milton eventually spoke up.

"We saw Karen there." Merle hooted.

"Tha' yer girlfriend? Look at that, baby bro! Milty has only been 'ere a few days an' he's already gotten 'imself a girl! Now, don' ya think it's yer turn?" Merle looked up at Carol and back over at Daryl.

"Ya best shut up!" Daryl growled and stood up from his chair.

"How about Milton and Merle talk for a little bit, Daryl? I actually have something I want to show you." She was standing by his side now, looking at him expectantly. He only nodded slightly and ignored more of Merle's remarks as she lead him out of the kitchen and upstairs. Daryl could feel himself getting nervous. What the hell would she want to show him? He calmed down a little when he reminded himself that this was just Carol. Carol, who that in the past few days, had become one of his good, and really his only friends. He shouldn't be nervous around her. He calmed down completely when they stopped at a door at the end of the hall and she opened it, revealing an art room of some sort. Drawings and paintings scattered the wall, an easel was set in the middle of the room. Drawing pads and cans of paint were set in the corner of the room. He was in awe. He had never seen anything like this before.

Carol quietly shut the door behind them and walked over to a desk that had more paintings and drawings scattered on the surface. He watched her and went to lean against the wall, then stood back up straight when he remembered the papers on the wall. He didn't want to damage any.

"Sorry it's a bit of a mess." She chuckled as she sorted through the papers on the desk. "I just... Draw and paint a lot and I guess I've never really taken the time to sort out all the different drawings." Carol chuckled again. "Now, where is that..?! Oh! There it is!" She exclaimed and held up a small frame. She seemed to examine it before looking up at Daryl and finally handing it to him. He cautiously took it and stared down at the paper in the frame. It was a drawing of a Cherokee Rose, her name signed in small, cursive writing under it.

"Ye drew this?" He asked, looking up at her briefly and then looked back down at the drawing.

"Yeah, I- I uh, drew it for you..." She said so quietly that Daryl almost didn't hear her. Then, he wasn't sure if he heard her right. He really liked the drawing, but no one had ever given him a gift before. He didn't know what he was supposed to do.

"Fer me?" He finally asked. She nodded and smiled a little.

"Do you like it?" He nodded and smiled faintly at her. He felt like the frame he was holding was the most precious thing in the world. It mine as well been the nicest thing he had, other than his crossbow, of course.

"Thank ya, Carol." He said, quietly. She smiled at him and nodded.

"You're welcome, Daryl." He looked back down at the frame and smirked. She really was good at drawing. He realized that some more when he looked up and around at the rest of the drawings and paintings on the wall. Some were bright and colorful but others, not so much. One that grabbed his attention was a drawing of a single sailboat in the middle of a stormy ocean. He walked closer to it, feeling her eyes on him. It didn't have color, but as Daryl studied it, he could tell it was meant to be black and white for a reason. It made it look more... Gloomy. Desolate. She walked up quietly beside him and studied her own drawing.

"I like tha' one, too." He pointed slightly at the drawing. Hell, he liked all of the art he saw around the room. She raised her eyebrows slightly.

"Really? Most people don't like that one." She sighed.

"Why?" She looked over at him and then back at the drawing before explaining.

"I drew this one about, oh I don't know, late in my freshman year?" It sounded more like a question than an answer, but Carol continued. "Yeah, because I think Ed and I had been dating for about a year then. Well, it was that same year that I lost my mom and between that situation and Ed, I felt pretty alone as you could imagine." She chuckled slightly as she continued explaining. Daryl was listening intensely. He couldn't believe how open she was with him. "Whenever I'm feeling sad, or angry or worried or even happy, I draw. And I was just feeling alone when I drew that. I felt like a small ship, sailing through a stormy sea. And no matter how bad that storm got, I- or the ship- just kept sailing." She smiled slightly at her play on words and Daryl did, too. "Everyone who saw it though, criticized it in some way and eventually I just got sick of it. You're the first person I've shown my art room to in three years. You should feel special." She smiled big and looked over at him again. He looked back down at the frame when he realized he had been staring at her. He was fascinated with this woman. She had been through the same kind of things as he had, in one way or another. They were so alike it was kind of spooky and it seemed that everything she did just mesmerized him. He wasn't sure how he felt about it. He tried denying the fact, but knew it was true. He was getting closer to Carol everyday, and yet just a week ago he barely knew her name. It sort of amazed him.

Merle's cackling voice pierced through his thoughts.

" 'Ey baby brother, wha' the hell ye two doin' up there?!" Daryl groaned out loud and Carol smirked. He was surprised when Carol opened the door and shouted back at Merle.

"Oh, you know Merle! Just, making out and stuff!" She chuckled as she shut off the light and walked out the door, starting down the stairs, but Daryl's face was flaming. He couldn't believe she just said that! God, it seemed in some ways he barely knew this girl. Holding the frame by his side, he started walking down the stairs himself and found only Merle and Carol in the living room. There was no sign of Milton.

"Where's Milton?" Daryl asked, scanning the room once more.

"His mom just came by a second ago and picked him up." Carol explained and Daryl only nodded slightly. "Hey, Daryl, boots off the carpet. I even made your brother take off his." Daryl looked down at dirty boots and realized he was standing on a plush, white carpet. God damn! Why did this girl have so much white furniture? Daryl knelt down and slowly untied his boots and walked over to the door and set them down beside Merle's. He looked back over at Carol and Merle who were sitting on one of the couches, watching a baseball game. Daryl chuckled slightly to himself as he gently set the frame beside his boots and took a seat in a, of course, white recliner. It was so comfortable, he was close to falling asleep. He felt his eyelids get heavy and his head droop down and he probably would've fallen asleep if Merle hadn't opened his big mouth.

"Yes! Yes! It's a home run! Ha, in yer face, Carol!" Daryl jumped onto his feet when Merle yelled and looked over at the two of them. Carol was grumbling something and she took a ten dollar bill out of her pocket and handed it to a very happy looking Merle.

"Merle, what th' hell?! Ya already got 'er gamblin'?!" Son of a bitch, he couldn't believe his brother.

" 'Ey, it was 'er idea! She was the one who was talkin' shit 'bout my team." He smirked and waved the money in her face. "Told ya they were good." Carol's response was to stick her tongue out at Merle and cross her arms. Daryl chuckled slightly at how childish she looked. "Well, we best be gettin' on home. Ya youngins got school in th' mornin'." Merle walked over and started putting his boots back on. Daryl followed after him and saw Merle holding the frame in his hands, staring down at it. "Carol, did ya draw this?" Carol stood up and walked over to Merle's side.

"Yes. I did." Daryl eyed them as he slipped his own boots on.

"It's real good." Daryl thought his ears tricked him. Merle had never given anyone a compliment in his life. Things were getting weird. He couldn't believe how smoothly things had gone tonight, and Merle acted pretty civil, considering that he was Merle. Taking the frame out of his brothers hands, Daryl looked back over at Carol and smiled faintly.

"I'll see ya tomorrow?" He asked and she nodded, returning his same smile.

"See you tomorrow." Then, she really surprised him by hugging him. It wasn't a long, awkward one, but just a quick friendly one. He felt himself tense up though, before patting her back a little awkwardly. She pulled away, blushing and opened the door for them. "Thanks for coming over, boys. It was nice meeting you, Merle." He gave her a grin and they all said their final goodbyes before walking out the door. As soon as Daryl and Merle got into the truck, Merle was hooting and hollering with laughter.

"Oh god damn, baby bro! Ye got it bad!" He hooted again. "Ya was flirtin' with each other the whole damn night!" Daryl ignored him and started the truck.

"Shut up." He muttered and set the drawing down in the empty space between his brother and him.

"So, when ya gonna ask 'er out? Oh, God brother! She's hot, I won' lie." Daryl gritted his teeth again.

"Dammit Merle, I said shut up!" Merle only chuckled.

"Did I hit a sensitive spot, brother?" He smirked and leaned back in the passenger seat of the truck. Daryl glared at him and started backing out of the driveway, but slammed on the breaks when his brother punched him in the arm.

"Ow! What the hell?!" Daryl rubbed over the spot where he was just punched. "Wha' was tha' fer, Merle?!" He shouted again. Merle grinned and shrugged slightly.

"Tha's fer punchin' me in there, earlier. Ya think ye was gonna get away with it?" He glared at Merle before he started driving again. When they pulled into the small driveway at their house, Daryl slightly missed Carol's big spacious driveway and her big house. He thought he was going to get lost in her house, and in his they barely had room to walk. He muttered to himself as he shut off the truck, grabbed the framed picture and walked into his house, Merle already sitting on the couch with the T.V flicked on. Daryl rolled his eyes and walked into his room, shutting the door. He changed into a pair of pajama pants, tossing his clothes into a hamper in the corner of his room. He placed the frame upright on the bureau by his bed and smiled at it slightly before lying down. He placed his hands behind his head and stared at the ceiling, feeling happier than... Than he had ever felt, really. Dinner had gone better than he could've ever expected, Carol had given him an amazing gift. All in all, it had been a pretty good day. He chuckled at how sappy he sounded and closed his eyes.

That night, he fell asleep thinking about what Carol might be drawing.

* * *

**I hope you guys liked this chapter! I had so much fun writing it! I enjoyed all the silliness between Daryl and Carol and between Carol and Merle. This is by far, one of my favorite chapters. I think Merle and Carol are going to have a very goofy, fun relationship in this story. It's fun to write! I hope I'm getting all these characters and their personalities right. Let me know if I am and if I'm not, please give me some suggestions on how I could write their characters better. Chapter Seven should be up soon! And don't worry, Daryl and Carol's relationship is progressing slowly, but surely :)**

**Thanks for reading!**


	7. Chapter 7

**I hope you guys enjoy this chapter! It's another one of my favorites and was really easy to write. Things are changing nowwww! :) Speaking of changes, I wrote a new story titled, well, it's titled ****_Changes._**** It starts off at the quarry and it's more Caryl action, so if any of you could check that out, it'd be amazing! Oh, I just love all of you who review, follow and favorite! And I love all of you who just read, too! It keeps me writing, so don't stop!**

**Hope you enjoy this chapter!**

* * *

"Louis, you need to get your ass in gear." Angela snapped as he studied some marble sculptures, set in front of one of the far walls of the airport. They were huge, beautiful sculptures from Zimbabwe and he couldn't take his eyes off of them. One that had caught his eye was a sculpture of kids playing leapfrog. Even in the marble, they had smiles on their faces and looked pleasant. It made Louis smile and feel happy. A harsh yank on his arm had him tearing his gaze away from the sculptures and he looked over at an un-happy Angela.

"Louis, darling," She said the pet name in a bit of a sarcastic tone, "I would appreciate it if you stopped wasting time. Last night, our flight was delayed and we had to sleep in a rundown motel across the street. I'm tired, and I'm irritated. I do not want to miss our plane because you want to stop and look at some sculptures that we could just buy smaller replicas of!" She growled. "Now, can we please get onto our plane to New York?" She plastered a fake smile and Louis only nodded. She huffed and turned around, walking fast to the departure area of the planes. He adjusted his tie and followed after her.

He couldn't really blame her for acting this way. It had been a rough night for the two of them. Their plane had been delayed and neither one of them wanted to sleep at the airport so they had gone to the motel across the street, and it was gross and he was pretty sure the sheets hadn't been changed in years. Once they finally got their seats on the plane, Angela was still complaining about whatever she could. Louis sighed and put headphones on.

This was going to be a long flight.

* * *

"Carol, what th' hell is this?" Daryl eyed his lunch with narrow eyes. She had decided to pack themselves something different than sandwiches. It wasn't something he had ever eaten before. Well, then again, he never really ate anything other than deer meat and what Carol gave him for lunch. He was still staring down at his lunch and stabbed one of the chunks of food with his fork, staring at it.

"Daryl, it's fruit salad." She laughed as he squinted his eyes at the piece of fruit on his fork.

"I know that it's fruit, dummy. I don' know what kind." He kind of muttered the last sentence. He was actually embarrassed that he had never eaten fruit before. He took that back in his head. He had watermelon, one time on the fourth of July when he was about four or five. That was it. It had tasted delicious when he had eaten it. He could still kind of taste the juice on his lips. He looked down at his container and sure enough, there were chunks of watermelon. He didn't care what the piece of fruit he had been studying on his fork was anymore and he didn't care that he had a fork, either. He kind of just threw the fork with the fruit on it and started eating the watermelon with his fingers. He didn't look up until he heard Carol laugh.

"Goodness, Daryl." She chuckled as she gently bit into a piece of her own fruit. "The watermelon isn't going anywhere, calm down there, buddy." She laughed again and Daryl felt his face flush.

"It's good." He said before he started sucking the watermelon juice off of his fingers. He looked at Carol as he did and saw her watch him for a few nervous seconds before looking away. He raised his eyebrows and continued.

"What're you working on, Milton?" Carol asked and Daryl took his attention away from Carol and saw Milton was actually working on some sort of school work. He just laughed silently to himself and started trying some of the other fruits in front of him. It was normal of Milton to have his nose in some kind of work. Daryl had learned that, quickly.

Daryl eyed the fruit before plopping it in his mouth. He had no clue what it was, but man was it good. Milton and Carol were in conversation and Daryl was looking around. His eyes nearly popped out of his head when he stopped his gaze on a table and saw Karen sitting with Ed. Last time he had checked, Karen had a thing for Milton. He looked back at Milton and not much to Daryl's surprise, Milton was looking at the table where Daryl had just been focused on. Carol must've caught his upsetting gaze.

"Don't worry about it, Milton. She'll realize how Ed is and that she'd be lucky to have a guy like you." Daryl listened closely. Even he knew that Milton was a better guy than Ed, but he couldn't help but wonder if maybe Carol had a crush on him...

He shook his head. Why would he care anyway? It wasn't like Carol and him were dating, even though, he did like her. Daryl could feel his eyes growing big again once he admitted that to himself.

He liked her. He_ liked_ Carol. He liked her smile, and her laugh. He liked seeing her happy. He liked how her skin seemed to radiate and the way her curls bounced with her laugh. He liked how blue her eyes were, and the slightest look from her sent jolts up his spine. He liked how she could make him feel happy, with even the simplest smile and he liked spending time with her. He liked how she could make a room glow with her appearance, and how she never seemed to exclude anyone or judge them. Well, she didn't judge them if she didn't know them. He found that the list of things he liked about her could go on for a lifetime. There was not one thing he could find that he didn't like about her.

Daryl felt weird. He had never liked someone before, not anyone. He had never even liked someone as a companion. Sure, he loved his brother, but he did not like him. And now, here he was, having some crush on a girl who he had just met, last week. Daryl mentally scowled himself because he knew that she was more than some girl. She was Carol. Carol, who he had never even thought would ever talk to him, and now that's all they did. Hell, he'd already somehow managed to get invited to her house and get a gift from her. Daryl hadn't really thought about it, but now that he was, he knew there was no way to deny the fact. He liked her.

There was no way he'd ever admit that though, because he was just Daryl Dixon. She was Carol Sanders. She was important to the town and so wasn't her father. His father was probably stoned in the middle of a parking lot for all he knew. He wouldn't admit it, because he couldn't face the rejection if she didn't like him back. She probably had become friends with him out of pity in the beginning, but then saw how desperate he really was and decided to just pretend to be his friend. She didn't like him.

But, even as he sat here, a thousand thoughts whirling through his mind, there was a feeling in his stomach that told him otherwise, that he wasn't just a pity friend. That maybe, just maybe, she liked him too.

He also realized that if he kept thinking about Carol, he was going to be in for a world of hurt. There were no cold showers at school.

God, that girl was going to kill him.

* * *

Merle parked the motorcycle in a singular parking space at the liquor store.

He shut the roaring machine off and swung his other leg around to stand up. The last thing he had wanted to do today, was much of anything, really. He had wanted to sit home, watch T.V and just drink some goddamn beer. But when he had gone to the fridge and found that there was no alcohol, none at all, he knew he had to go to the store and get more. He hadn't had a drink since yesterday morning, because miss-goody-two-shoes Carol didn't have any alcohol. He smirked at the thought of last night. Man, had he had fun. That girl was something else.

He continued thinking about dinner last night as he walked into the store and looked through the freezers. Daryl had picked himself a lively one. She was funny, loud, social, outgoing. Everything that his brother wasn't. And even she gambled with him! His brother wouldn't even do that. But, hell, could she cook. Merle thought he was going to go insane once he had taken his first bite. It was one of the best things he had ever tasted! He didn't know someone could actually cook that good. It was like heaven was disguised as a pasta dinner and apple pie. She could draw like he'd never seen before, too. When he had picked up that framed drawing, he had thought he was looking at an actual Cherokee Rose that was pressed between the glass until he studied it closer and realized it was a drawing. It looked real. That girl had some talent. He didn't know why his brother wasn't jumping at the opportunity to get that girl; it was obvious she liked him. She had been flirting with him all night! Yeah, she had been fooling around with Merle, too, but that was pure silliness. When she was fooling around with Daryl, it was obvious she was flirting with him. And Daryl had the biggest smile he'd ever seen his brother wear when he was with her. That girl had made Daryl come out of his little protective shell, and he had never seen anyone be able to do that before. His brother was a moron when it came to woman. Just plain stupid. He had never had a girlfriend in his life and Merle was pretty sure he'd never even kissed a girl, but Carol was different. Merle could tell his brother liked her, which relieved him a bit. For a little while there, he thought his brother had gone gay on him. That would've been a nightmare.

Merle chuckled as he opened the door to one of the freezers and grabbed an eight-pack of beer. If Merle was in high school, he'd definitely take the opportunity to get Carol if he could. She was a sight for sore eyes, and she seemed real good for his brother. Now Merle, Merle was not a relationship kind of guy. He'd have them once, twice and maybe if they were lucky, they'd get a third round before he kicked them to the curb. His bed was the most famous bed around Georgia. He gave himself a satisfied grin as he trudged up to the counter. He placed the beer on the counter and the pretty little cashier smiled at him.

"Good afternoon, sir." She said as she rang up the beer. He gave her a slight nod and studied her. She had long blonde hair that was up in a ponytail. It still swung around a bit every time she moved. Her eyes were a light shade of green, they looked almost mystic. She wasn't bad looking, maybe he'd convince her to go home with him. "Will that be all?" She smiled at him again and he looked down at her name tag. It read _Amy._

"Now darlin', can I ask ya a question?" She looked puzzled, but nodded her head slowly. "Well, Amy," He said as he shifted his weight onto his other foot, "How come a pretty little piece like you is workin' here in a liquor store?" Her cheeks became slightly red and she gave him a slight shrug.

"Gotta find some way to pay the bills, right?" She gave him another pearly white smile. "That'll be six seventy seven, sir."

"It's Merle, darlin. And I could see ya in magazines and shit." _Yeah, Playboy magazine would be nice. _He thought to himself as he pulled out the ten dollar bill from last night out of his pocket and handed it to her. She blushed and took the bill, causing one of her pedicured nails to brush across his fingers. He stuffed one hand in his pocket and grabbed onto the handle of the beer case with his free hand. "Keep the change, sugar." He grinned as he started walking to the door.

"Come again!" She shouted after him and waved. Oh, he'd come back soon enough. The liquor store was basically his home away from home. The town didn't have a decent bar around and the nicest one was about forty-five minutes away, and he wasn't taking that trip when he had a nice liquor store, with apparently new staff, which meant attractive cashiers.

Merle was still holding onto the beer as he sat on his bike and started it. He had a feeling that he'd be visiting this place a lot more often than even before. And it wasn't just for the alcohol.

* * *

Milton was sitting on the front steps of the school, waiting for his mother to pick him up.

He loved his mom, he really did, but no matter what it was she had to go to, she was always late. Always. It could've been a birthday party for the kid across the street or a dinner with the president, it didn't matter. She was always at least fifteen minutes late. So there Milton sat, alone, deep in thought.

He seemed to be in thought a lot more than usual. And he usually was thinking all the time. Before, he would think about school, a few math problems here and there or what Stephen King book he was going to read next, but now, all he thought about was Karen. He had really gotten to know her the past week. He had joined the math team and she was on it, too. She was a very smart girl, a lot smarter than he would've thought. She often talked to him in school, class, math meets, and Milton quickly found that he had liked the girl. She was pretty, nice, smart. Everything he could've asked for. But it now appeared that she was interested in Ed. But what else had he expected? He was a quiet nerd and Ed was a handsome jock. Popular. The exact opposite of what Milton was.

He had never focused on girls before. It never occurred to him. School was what mattered to him. Applying for colleges, figuring out what he wanted to do with his life. He had never even thought about bringing a girl into the picture. But when Daryl had pointed her out that first day at lunch, he thought she was the most beautiful thing he had ever seen. He found himself thinking about her a lot, her smile and just plain out her. His mind was flogged with thoughts about her. He knew he was inexperienced. Carol was the first girl he had talked to that wasn't his mother in a long time.

As if she could read his mind, Milton looked up at the sweet voice that came from next to him. And there she was, Karen, smiling at him. Her face was getting fogged out, though, and Milton quickly realized that his glasses were fogging up. He could feel his face heat up as he took them off of his face and wiped them off with the bottom of his shirt. He heard Karen chuckle slightly and looked back up at her as he put his glasses back on.

"What're you doing here, still?" She looked at her watch. "It's been near an hour since school was let out." Milton sat up a little more straight as he answered her.

"My mom was supposed to pick me up. She's always late." Karen took a seat on the steps beside him. Close enough that their shoulders were pressed against each other.

"I'll keep you company till she gets here, then." She smiled and Milton only nodded. He felt a weird feeling in his stomach that he had never felt before. And then it progressed to even lower places as he studied her more. His eyes widened once he realized what as happening and his glasses were fogging up, again. This had _never _happened to him before and he felt entirely awkward. He felt uncomfortable, but couldn't stop staring at her. He took the pile of books that had been on the step next to him and set them on his lap, not knowing how else to handle this awkward situation. Someone needed to say something, anything.

"Why're you still here if school let out a hour ago?" Milton asked, finally, his voice cracking just slightly and he hoped that she hadn't been able to notice. When she turned to face him and was smiling, it seemed as if she had no clue of what was happening to him, and he was very relieved about that.

"Well, there is a bonfire on Friday for the seniors. It's kind of like a small celebration type of deal for the two month mark of school. Anyway, it's going to be at my place and some of us student council members were just having a meeting to make sure everything was still in order." Milton raised his eyebrows.

"You're part of student council?"

"Vice president." She smiled. Goodness, this girl was perfect. "But you should come on Friday!" She insisted and nudged his shoulder a little with her own. Milton thought for a minute. Social gatherings were never his thing, and honestly, this sounded like a party more than anything. As if 'bonfire' was just the word used so no one would suspect anything and they wouldn't get in trouble. He was nervous even thinking about it.

"I'm not sure if that would be best." He finally answered and Karen's eyes seemed to take a sad gleam. Her bottom lip stuck out a little as she lightly gripped his arm with both of her hands and moved to her knees so her body was now facing her.

"Please, Milton? It would be fun and we could hang out the whole night!" Why would she want to hang out with him if she had a thing with Ed? Did she just feel bad for him? Was this all a setup? He kept studying her and her eyes seemed to be searching his for an answer, and it seemed like she really wanted that answer to be yes. Maybe this was legit, maybe she just wanted him to come and have a good time. He thought about it long and hard before answering her.

"I suppose I can check it out." She smiled big and actually hugged him, but it was more her hugging his side.

"Yay! Oh Milton, you're going to have a blast!" She pulled away and a smile plastered her face from ear to ear. Just then, his moms station wagon pulled up in front of him and he quickly stood up, yet still kept his books where they had been when he was sitting.

"I'll see you tomorrow, Karen." He said quickly as he took long strides to his mothers car.

"Bye!" She called after him and waved as he took his spot in the passenger seat. He smiled softly and gave her a small wave back.

He was anticipating for Friday to come, but at the same time, he hoped it never showed up.

* * *

Carol was sitting in her chair in the living room.

Well, not really sitting. She was upside down. He feet perched at the top of the chair and the top of her head pressed against the floor. Daryl just stared at her, with a questioning look on his face.

"Carol, I'm pretty sure tha' all th' blood in yer body has filled yer head." He slightly chuckled at how red her face was from being in that position for so long, but she only shrugged.

"I don't care, I'm entertaining myself." He quirked an eyebrow at her and she giggled slightly as she blew a stray curl out of her face. She had been like that literally since the moment she had sat down in the plush chair that Daryl had been sitting in just last night. He had driven her home from school and she invited him inside. He had secretly been hoping that she would, but his heart still fluttered nervously when she had asked. He had quickly scowled himself mentally and his brothers voice nagged him not to be such a pussy about the whole thing. He had tried pushing his brothers annoying voice away, but knew it had been right. He was acting like an awkward middle schooler and needed to get over it. But that's what she did to him. She made him feel different, act different. He liked it.

"I'm. So. Bored." Carol sighed again for the numerous time that past hour. She wasn't really talking to him in general, just kind of putting the fact out there. Again.

_'Ey baby brother, ya hear that? The girls bored. Show her some fun, if ye know what I mean. _

His brothers voice was there again and he could almost even feel his brother slapping him on the back. God, this was unhealthy. Anytime there was a problem, a question, anything really, Merle's voice was there as his own subconscious and Daryl was starting to think maybe there was a problem with that. Besides, he had to deal with Merle's annoying, druggie ass whenever he was home so when he was away, he should've been trying to enjoy the moments of peace as long as he could. He didn't even realize he was staring at Carol until she said something, finally sitting up right, her hair a jumbled mess from how she had just been previously seated.

"Why're you staring? Is there something in my teeth?" She pressed her teeth together to reveal the full set of pearly whites and Daryl just laughed and shook his head.

"Naw, but yer hair is an awful mess now." Carol only shrugged and put it up in a ponytail. Daryl had to bite to inside of his lip to not say anything. He just _loved _when she put her hair up. He didn't know what it was about the simple thing, but it just almost made him go crazy. God, maybe he just needed to find some way to calm his hormones or some shit. It seemed like whatever this girl did made him go half numb. Suddenly, an idea popped into his head that had his heart hammering nervously in his chest as he sat forward, nervously, in his seat.

"Ya still bored, Carol?" She eyed him curiously before nodding. He grinned and stood up and she stood up also, wavering a little. Most likely from all the blood being in one place for so long. He set a hand on each shoulder to keep her steady.

"Why? What do you have in mind?" She asked once she knew she had her balance. He set his arms back at his sides.

"Come on, I think I have somethin' tha' could help." He started walking to where his boots were place by the door. That damn girl and her white carpeting. He tied up the laces and looked up to see her looking down at him, questioning look still on her face.

"What're we doing?" She asked as he opened the door and motioned for her to step out, first. She narrowed her eyes at him before doing so and he followed behind her, closing the door. He didn't answer her question, but only walked down the few steps and to his truck. He heard her quiet, yet quick, footsteps behind him. "Daryl? Where are we going?" She asked again as he got in the drivers seat. She had opened the door to the passenger seat, but was still standing on the driveway. He looked over at her as he started the truck.

"Well, yer bored." He didn't want to give away anything. He wanted to really surprise her. "Ye showed me somethin' last night tha' ya said ye hadn't showed anyone in a long time. Well, I wanna show ya somethin', too." He smirked. "Nothin' I've ever showed anyone before." She bit her lip and he had to look away. That was another thing she did that drove him wild. Finally, she climbed into the truck and buckled up.

"Hm, you've peaked my interest." She said as he started backing out of her driveway. He only looked at her out of the corner of his eye and smirked as he started driving.

"Good."

* * *

She had no idea, whatsoever, what was going on or where he was taking her. He'd been very discreet with details, but she still wanted to go to wherever it was he was taking her.

Carol trusted Daryl enough to know he wouldn't hurt her, that he'd never hurt her. But her heart still pounded with curiosity and some nervousness as he drove. The sun was setting and the bright blue sky that she had once been looking at, was being taken away and replaced with colors of pink and gold as the sunset came over Georgia. He had been driving for a while and she started getting even more anxious, but kept quiet.

He finally drove off of the backroad they had been traveling and pulled onto a field and put the truck in park. Her eyes searched out the window for what it could be that he was showing her, but all it was was a field with woods surrounding it. She looked over at him as he hopped out of the truck and motioned for her to do the same. He walked around to the back and climbed into the tailgate of the truck, holding his hand out to help her up, also. She took it, and then mourned the loss of his hand in hers when he quickly took it away as soon as she had stepped foot in the tailgate. He sat down cross-legged, and she did the same beside him.

"I come out 'ere often. Just ta, get away from it all, ya know?" He looked around at the wilderness surrounding them but she kept her eyes on him as he spoke. "I even sleep out 'ere sometimes, in th' tailgate." He said as he picked up a folded blanket that had been sat at the foot of the tailgate. She watched silently as he unfolded the blanket and continued talking. "I know how fucking sappy this all sounds, but I can't help it. I'll lie 'ere and stare up at the stars. It calms me down... Soothes me." He looked embarrassed and she felt the corner of her mouth turn up. "Ye showed me yer art room. Ye gave me a gift. Well, I'm showing ye my hideaway. And my gift to you is ta let ya come whenever ya want." His voice wasn't as low as a whisper, but it wasn't loud at all, either. It sent chills down her spine and he must've seen her shiver, cause next thing she knew he was draping the blanket around her shoulders.

"Thanks." She said sheepishly and he only smiled at her. She never thought she would've heard words like those come out of Daryl Dixon. But sure enough, they had. The sun had now set completely and the sunrise was gone. Now it was a dark sky, the moon barely peeking out from behind the trees but thousands of stars lit up the night like little lights. He laid back, twining his fingers behind his head. She laid back also and curled her toes into the bottom of the blanket.

Carol stared up at the sky, and then over at the man next to her with pure astonishment and curiosity. If someone told her a few weeks ago, that'd she'd be lying in a tailgate and staring at the stars with Daryl Dixon, she would've laughed right in their face. And now that it was happening, she almost couldn't wrap her head around it. She never pictured him as one who would go out and simply enjoy watching the stars. This man was a pure mystery, but she liked it. She liked him.

Her thoughts were cut short when she saw him shiver slightly and realized how much of a blanket hog she was being. She quickly unwrapped it from herself, then draped it over the two of them. He looked like he was about to protest, but she spoke before he did.

"We can share. Now shut up and enjoy the view, Dixon." She could feel herself grin and he smirked over at her before looking back up at the sky. She looked over the dozens of different designs that the stars outlined and felt a feeling in her stomach. The feeling of butterflies. They made their way from her stomach and up, causing her to feel lightheaded and the tips of her fingers to tingle. Even though Daryl probably didn't realize it, this was the most romantic thing she had ever experienced. Ed would've never done something like this for her. But Daryl, out of all people, did. And it was the sweetest thing she could think of.

She didn't know if she was thinking or not, or maybe if it was the butterflies taking control of her, but it almost didn't seem real when she leaned over and kissed him gently on the cheek. She felt him tense up, but she didn't care right at the moment. She kept her face beside his for a second and whispered.

"I really enjoy your gift, Daryl. Thank you." And then she returned to the position she was in just a moment ago. He seemed stunned, and honestly, she was stunned, too. He didn't say anything and they just both kept staring at the stars, but the atmosphere felt different after that little kiss on the cheek. Lighter. She didn't know what was going on between them, or what was going to happen, but she wasn't going to over-think it, right then. Not when everything felt so perfect.

Carol didn't even realize that her body felt so relaxed that it felt as if her bones had evaporated. Her eyes become heavy and tired and her breathing became deep and even. She fell asleep listening to crickets, and the beat of his heart as she laid her tired head lightly on Daryl's chest.

* * *

**Eep! Their relationship is progressing! I hope none of you think that it's moving to fast, since it's only the seventh chapter and all but don't worry! I'm not going to start anything way to serious for a little bit. I'll let it progress more. **

**This chapter was so fun to write! Even with the awkward part of Milton experiencing his first erection. Oh my gosh, I was laughing so hard writing that part! I know, think I'm a freak, whatever. But a writer has got to write even the most awkward parts of a story! Poor Milton. If you think about, Daryl and Milton are equally both really inexperienced with girls! It seems like maybe not for long, though ;)**

**Oh and, some of you might be questioning the whole Amy and Merle thing. I'll set a few things straight. I understand in the show, that Amy and Andrea are sisters and that Andrea is older, but in my story they don't even know each other and Amy is in college. I also needed to find ****_someone _****to set Merle up with and I've read stories where it was him and Maggie or him and Beth but I never saw one where it was him and Amy, and I wanted to try something different. I really liked Amy and thought it was sad when she died and honestly, I like the sweet girl and dangerous guy concept I think I might have going on with them. I really hope that doesn't turn the story off for any of you.**

**Well, thank you all for reviewing, favorites and follows! Don't stop! Keep reviewing, I love hearing suggestions and feedback and it's honestly what keeps me writing, so don't stop the love ;) It's much appreciated!**

**Thanks for reading!**


	8. Chapter 8

**All I can say is I loved writing this chapter and I'm really happy where I think I'm leading this story and also, there is quite a bit of inner dialogue; hope that doesn't bother any of you and I hope I did right by ya'll ;) I can't wait to write the next chapter. Feedback, please! It keeps me writing :) It's so important, and your guys' reviews put a smile on my face!**

**Hope you enjoy!**

* * *

Carol bunched up the soft material in her hand and readjusted herself, burying her head deeper into her pillow. She curled up into the blanket and let warmth wrap around her as she laid there, eyes closed and her breathing deep and even.

She had never remembered feeling this comfortable in her bed, but now, she just didn't want to move from her spot. Man, she must've been tired if she was so comfortable in her own bed. She inhaled deeply through her nose and immediately opened her eyes when she smelt a musky scent. She nearly screamed when she saw where she really was.

It wasn't a pillow she had buried her head in, but the burrow of Daryl's neck. The soft material bunched up in her hand was his shirt, not a blanket like she had thought. Slowly, she released her grip on the shirt and just laid her hand on his chest. The even and deep, rising and lowering of his chest under her hand told her he was still asleep. His arm was wrapped around her, his hand resting on her waist. She raised her head up just a little and saw they were sleeping in his tailgate. Surprisingly, it was the most comfortable she'd slept in a long time; in the back of a pickup truck and curled up next to Daryl Dixon. She was also the most surprised she'd been in a long time, too. She would've never seen herself like this. Sleeping, in a tailgate with a Dixon.

Once the initial shock wore off, she gently laid her head back down in the spot it had been before and closed her eyes. The sun was out, but his chin was able to shade her eyes from the blinding rays. As she closed her eyes, she wasn't sure how she felt about this. She felt comfortable with it, but felt an uneasy feeling in her stomach as she continued thinking about how much had changed over the past two weeks. Ed was gone, she had a progressing relationship with the 'bad boy' of town, but if you asked her, Daryl wasn't a bad boy at all, just appeared that way. In the past two weeks, she had been able to make her way from what she felt was rock bottom, to pure happiness. She was happy with her friends now. A simple math tutor was seeming to become more than that. He was a friend, but Carol briefly wondered if he'd ever be more. Then she immediately shook that thought out of her head. Despite how they were sleeping right now; how close they were; how they were snuggled together and how amazingly comfortable she felt, they weren't going to be more. They were friends, and she didn't want to overwhelm Daryl. Besides, she bet he didn't even like her like that. Like more than a friend. She was sure no one could like her, who she was.

Carol opened her eyes quickly and slowly moved Daryl's arm to sit up. Why was she thinking like that? That was poison that Ed had filled her head. Lies, to make her stay with him. Deceptions to make her believe that she wasn't good enough. Her self-esteem was low, and that was thanks to Ed. But, still, in a way, it was her fault too for letting him treat her like that. She _was _better than Ed told her she was. She did deserve to be happy, to be with someone who wouldn't hurt her the ways he had. To have someone who cared for her and respected her and from what she was able to tell, she had Daryl and Milton who both fit those qualities of respecting her. They had quickly become good, and really, her only friends. She hadn't really spoken to Lori after breaking up with Ed. Guess in Lori's eyes, she wasn't cool enough to be seen with since she hung out with Milton and Daryl. She didn't care. They were good friends. Nice to talk to; easy to help; respectful people. She could admit to herself that she would've never thought that of Daryl if she had never talked to him. Guess you really can't judge a book by its cover.

She smiled to herself and laid back down in her spot, burying her face in the crook of Daryl's neck, again. There was nothing romantic about this situation. Friends cuddled together sometimes, right? On like a movie night, or when it was chilly outside. This was normal for friends, it had to be.

Carol kept trying to convince herself this was friendly thing as she fell soundly back to sleep, curled up against her _friend._

* * *

Daryl woke up with hot breath hitting his neck.

His eyes widened as soon as he opened them and crooked his neck slightly to look down at the sleeping body next to him. There was Carol, her face pressed against the side of his neck, her hands on his chest. He had an arm wrapped around her and his hand rested on her hip. Her hair tickled at his ear and his chin was resting on the top of her head. What in the world..?

Daryl was uncomfortable. _Majorly _uncomfortable. Personal space had always been a sacred thing to him, and now it seemed as if he was throwing caution out the window as he snuggled with her in the back of his truck. It scared him how this woman could make him feel so calm; make him act different. It scared him how much of an impact she had on him, and how she seemed to care about him. It scared him how he cared about her. Anyone he had ever cared for had always ended up hurting him, one way or another. Whether it was with the whipping of belts or another inhale of some kind of drug. There had been four people he had ever cared for his whole life. His mom, Uncle Charlie, Merle and at one point, his father. His mom and Uncle Charlie left him. Well, didn't really leave him. They both died in a car accident. Charlie was driving the car and swerved off the road. He was killed instantly, but mom had died later that day in the hospital. Merle was addicted to every drug Daryl could think off. He drank, did drugs and went out, screwing random girls. Merle was never there for him. They didn't have that great sibling relationship that you see in some cheesy sitcom or rich family, Daryl couldn't even talk to his brother about anything. Merle might've been home a lot, but he was never there. And his pa. When he was younger, before the abuse had really started, he cared for his pa. But then he got older, always 'messed things up' and was never good enough. So the man took his anger out on a young Daryl, using a belt or his fists. Sometimes his boot clad feet. He would try to knock some sense into him and his brother, and to him, that was good parenting.

Now, it seemed like a fifth person was being added to the short list of people he cared about. Carol. He almost felt guilty, thinking that she would hurt him, he couldn't even imagine it. But then again, had he ever imagined his own father whipping him? He cared for Carol, even though he didn't even want to admit that to himself. He cared for her and she cared for him and that scared the shit out of him. It scared him that she made this all feel so comfortable. He had never, ever imagined her and him getting this close. Not just psychically, but emotionally, too. Their relationship was progressing, and he was scared of where it was going to go and what the end result would be. He was scared of caring, just to be let down in the end like he had always been. He didn't want to lose her.

Daryl sat up slowly, kind of wanting to wake Carol up. He didn't know what time it was, but he could tell it wasn't late. Maybe only eight or nine in the morning, and they had school. Unfortunately, they couldn't spend the day in a field together, and he wasn't sure how much longer he'd feel comfortable with it, anyway. He looked over at her once he stretched his arms out over his head and yawned. She looked awake now, but was still lying down. She groaned and sat up, sleep still in her eyes. Her hair had come out of her ponytail, and it was a big curly red mess. He wasn't sure what had made it so bad. Maybe because she had slept in a tailgate or maybe it was the Georgia humidity. Perhaps it was both. All he knew was that it was an interesting hairdo. He chuckled slightly and she raised one eyebrow a little.

"What?" Her voice was groggily and she was barely audible. She must've been real tired last night. He shook his head and ran a hand through his own hair.

"Does ya hair not like humidity or somethin'?" That's when her eyes went wide and she gently ran her fingers through her hair. Or, at least tried to. Her fingers quickly got caught in the jumbled mess and Daryl couldn't help but laugh at how red her face become. She glared at him, but that only made him laugh more. He couldn't take her seriously with her fingers caught in her hair and her face about as red as her hair was. His ribs burned from the laughter and he was actually doubled over right now. He didn't know why he was laughing so hard. Maybe because of the fact she had her fingers caught in her hair and she was as red as a tomato right now. And maybe it was him trying to wipe away the uneasiness he was feeling just minutes ago when he woke up, her curled up beside him. He wiped tears from his eyes with the heels of his hands and gave out one last laugh. Daryl looked up at her and it seemed she got her fingers out of her hair, because she playfully hit his arm.

"Daryl Dixon, you are a jerk." She said, putting her hair back into a ponytail and glaring at him, slightly. He only shrugged and started folding the blanket up again.

"Since I'm such a jerk, ye can walk home, I s'pose." He set the blanket in it's spot at the end of the tailgate and stood up. Carol stood also, stretching her arms over her head and yawning loudly. She looked adorable when she did that and Daryl could feel heat in his face as he thought that. This goddamn girl.

"You wouldn't really make a woman walk through the woods by herself." She smirked and jumped out of the side of the tailgate. Daryl followed suit and walked to the drivers side as Carol walked around to the passengers side. Once they were both in their seats and buckled, she said something. "Where are we going, now?" Daryl started the truck and looked at the small clock displaying on the radio screen.

"It ain't even ten yet. We could get ta school and only be two hours late." He explained as he slowly drove out of the field and onto the backroad. He saw Carol watching the field disappear in the rearview mirror as they drove farther away.

"Are you sure you want to go to school, though?" Was he hearing what he thought he was hearing? Carol Sanders _not _wanting to go to school. Hell must've frozen over for sure. He didn't say anything, just gave her a look of disbelief as he continued driving. "I mean, both of us not in the school the same day, and then showing up together? The rumor mill would have a field day with that." Daryl sighed. He didn't really care what people thought. He never had before, so why start now? But she didn't need people criticizing her and asking her a million and one questions. She didn't need rumors started about her. She didn't need people saying she was shacking up with Daryl Dixon. It was a small town, and things spread fast. It'd probably be on the local news faster than either of them could blink.

"Wouldn't it be even more suspicious if we both weren't there, today?" He countered and Carol tilted her head.

"Hm, I suppose." He smiled dryly.

" 'Sides, we can't leave ol' Milton by himself. Hell, he's probably gotten a swirly or two since we've been gone." He smirked and Carol pouted out her bottom lip slightly.

"Aw, Daryl! That's awful." She said, but he saw that she was grinning now, also. They both were fond of Milton. Daryl was really fond of him, he was cool. But, neither one of them could deny that he was, in fact, a nerd. That's really all Daryl could describe him as. And the jocks at the school would jump at any opportunity to terrorize the poor guy. They couldn't ditch him.

"Tell ya what," He began, as he turned onto her road, "I'll drop ye off and drive to school myself and ye could just walk, I guess. If ya don' want to show up together." He could hear the dryness in his voice as he said the last part but, if she didn't want to show up with him after they were both absent from school at the same time, he understood. That's why she blew him completely off guard with her answer.

"Naw," She said, seemingly mocking him, "I think I'd rather have you give me a ride." He pulled into her driveway and put the truck into park before looking over at her. She was smirking as she opened the door and jumped from her seat, onto the driveway.

"What th' hell ya talkin' bout? Yer the one who said it might be a bad idea." He had to shout a little, speaking that she was out of the truck now and walking around the back of it. He had no idea what she was doing until she opened his door and put her hands on her hips, giving him a look of expectancy.

"I don't care what they think. We know that we didn't do anything but watch the stars. So, are you going to sit in here while I get ready, or are you going to come inside with me?" He had his eyes narrowed on her for a few seconds before giving in and shutting the truck off. She smirked, satisfied, and stepped back, allowing him to jump out of his spot in his seat. He shut the truck door and followed her as she started up the steps to her door. Even though he had already been in this house twice, and it was only the beginning of the week, he was still nervous to go in there a third time. Everything in her house was so nice and he felt like every little thing he touched, he was going to break it or make it dirty. But quite honestly, he liked going in there. And his favorite room was her art room. When she had showed him that room the first time, he knew.

He knew that for sure, this girl was different than anyone he'd ever met before. She was someone who felt like she could trust him; be open with him. He knew that this girl was going to be a big part of him and was going to impact him with every decision, action, thought, that she made. He knew that he cared for her and that she cared for him. It scared him at first, the day she had shown him the room, but once he was holding that drawing in his hands, he didn't feel as scared anymore. He felt like maybe he could get used to the fact that she was going to be a part of his life and he felt happy that she would. If someone had told him a week ago that he'd have a growing relationship with Carol Sanders, he probably would've told them that they were insane. But, here he was, sitting in the comfortable white plush chair once again. This time though, he was waiting for her to hurry her ass up.

"Jesus, woman!" He shouted from his spot in the chair. "How long does it take ya to get ready fer school? By the time yer done, school's gonna be over!" He was teasing her, but couldn't help but become impatient. Patience was a thing he didn't really have, unless he was doing something like hunting. Even from upstairs, he heard her chuckle.

"Ten minutes!" She shouted back and Daryl just grumbled and leaned farther into his chair. He relaxed into the chair and leaned his head back, staring up at the ceiling. He didn't really care how long she took, now that he thought about it. He was so relaxed in the chair and he felt his eyes getting heavy again. He quickly shook his head and sat up straight, once he was on the brink of sleep. Daryl looked at the clock and shook his head before standing up. Ten minutes his ass.

He walked up the stairs and stood at the top, looking down the long hallway. He didn't know which room was hers, or what any of the rooms were, really. The only room he knew was her art room at the end of the hall. Hesitantly, Daryl started walking, looking into rooms that had their door open. He felt a little weird, snooping through her house, but he needed to find this girl before she spent the whole day getting ready. Hell, what would be taking her so long? He wasn't even changing his clothes. Besides, it wasn't like he had clothes to change into, anyway. He had stopped at a door on the right of the hallway, second to last, and peeked in. He was positive this was her room. Daryl looked around without stepping into the room, but he found it empty.

He stepped into the room, even though a voice in his head was screaming for him to get the hell out. He ignored it as he walked around the spacious room. Once again, this room had white carpeting. Daryl snickered to himself as he continued looking around. Her room really was huge. She had a queen sized bed, sitting at the far end of the room, directly across from the door. It was resting against the wall diagonally, with a big window above it. Daryl walked over to the bed and sat at the end of it. That's when he realized it wasn't a regular mattress, but a waterbed. He nearly slipped off the bed and straight onto his ass when he first sat down. His mattress was nothing but a stiff, worn out and old one. Daryl couldn't help but bounce a little, but then he immediately stopped when he saw what was in his view. Hanging on the wall, only a few feet away from the door, was a huge flat screen T.V. He had seen some in the windows of stores before, but never one this close. Merle would've been hooting and hollering if he was here, seeing this right now. Daryl stood up and walked over. Under the T.V was a cabinet with a stereo on top of it. In the cabinet was so many different movies and CD's that Daryl had ever seen. He sat down, crossed his legs and starting looking through the variety she had.

His eyes widened as he sorted through the different CD's. She had every kind of music; from The Rolling Stones to Bon Jovi. He even found a few records in the cabinet and sure enough, when he looked around the room again, he saw a record player in the corner of the room. He was pretty sure he didn't find any music from 1999 up in that cabinet, and that was alright with him. He didn't listen to music much, but when he did, it was always older music like the stuff she had in the cabinet. If you asked Daryl, the music that was out there today pretty much sucked. God, could this girl get any more perfect? His eyes widened as he picked up a record.

"Holy shit." He muttered under his breath as he read the title on the case. _The Animals _was what read back at him, and on the cover were the five band members, looking all to serious and each of them holding a different instrument. He ran his finger down the sides of the case as he stared at it with pure awe. It looked like it was in pristine condition. The Animals was a band all the way from the 1960's and here in his hands, in 2013, he was holding a record of The Animals that looked brand new. He held the item carefully as he stood up, still staring at it. If Daryl hadn't been staring at it, he might've noticed Carol in the doorway.

"Hey Dixon! Snooping around my room already, I see." Her sudden voice had him jumping slightly and he tore his gaze away from the record in his hands. She was smirking at him, her hair black and damp. At that moment, he saw she had changed into a pair of blue jeans and a shirt with a picture of The Beatles on it. Seriously. It was like someone had handpicked this girl out for him and left her on his doorstep. He didn't realize he was staring at her until she walked over and plucked the case out of his hands. "Well? Are you just going to stand there like a deer in the headlights or are we going to listen to some music?" She walked over to the record player and took the record out of its case, setting it gently down and they waited a few brief seconds as faint crackling played, and then the beginning of one of Daryl's few favorite songs played. The sound of the electric guitar being strummed filled the room and soon a man started singing. Carol started singing along also, and he couldn't help but mouth the words.

"There is, a house, in New Orleans. They call it the Rising Sun." She was singing along in a husky tone, trying to match her voice to the singers over the player. The huskiness of her voice was _not _helping with the attraction he was feeling towards her, right now. "My mother was a tailor," She continued on in the same husky tone, drawing out notes the same time the singer did, as well, "Sewed my new blue jeans." She needed to stop. Now. This girl was surely going to be the death of him. When she didn't stop, and kept singing in the same husky and breathy tone, he had to look away and couldn't mouth the words anymore because he was biting thumbnail, nervously. Eventually, the song ended and Carol walked over to the still open cabinet and started looking through it like he had just been doing. She looked up at him and crooked her head sideways, motioning for him to sit beside her; so he did just that. She pulled out another record and blew off the light layer of dust sitting on it. It was a name he didn't recognize, but it seemed like Carol recognized it well. "Ever heard of Stevie Wonder?" She asked, taking her blue eyes off the record and over to him. He didn't respond, but only shook his head. Her eyes widened and her mouth gaped open a bit. "Never? Not once?" She nearly squealed and Daryl shook his head once more.

"Nope." She stood up so fast he thought she'd knock the stereo off the cabinet. He didn't stand up, but turned his body around to watch her take the previous record off of the player and put the new one in its place.

"Stevie Wonder is _amazing._" She explained as she switched out the records. "He's blind, but he can play piano like nobodies business." Daryl couldn't help but grin at how excited she was when she explained this Stevie Wonder guy to him. He enjoyed seeing her happy. Even though it was fucking sappy, and he knew it was, it made him happy to see her happy. He nearly jumped when he heard loud Jazz instruments come over the piano. A minute ago, they had just been listening to a low Rock song, and replacing it now was a loud, upbeat Jazz song. Carol started aimlessly twirling around the room as she sang along to this song also, matching, from who he was guessing was Stevie's happy, upbeat tone. Her dancing matched the rhythm and beat and he couldn't help but chuckle. This really showed that this girl didn't care what she did in front of him. It showed she wasn't worried that he might think she was a total weirdo for dancing around her room and singing on the top of her lungs and really, he didn't find it weird. He found it fucking adorable.

This girl was making a mess of him, of his thoughts, his daily actions. She was making him different, but in a good way. He could be open around her, truthful with her. He could do or say anything around her and he wouldn't have to worry about being judged by her. Who would've thought that Carol Sanders would be making him, Daryl Dixon, a jumbled mess. A good jumbled mess. He cared for her, he really did. He was still trying to accept the fact that he liked her. He knew he did, hell, his body was proving that to him for the countless time the past two weeks, but somehow he still had his doubts. It wasn't really doubts, it was unsureness. Unsure if it was a good idea to like her, if he'd just be let down. He told himself she liked him, too. No girl had ever acted like this around him; no girl had ever given him the time of day, but did that mean she liked him? Maybe it did, but then again, maybe it didn't. His thought process was abruptly interrupted when she grabbed him by the upper bicep and yanked him up so he was now standing up with her. Jesus. For how small she looked, she sure was strong. She was still dancing, but now she was leading him in her crazy dance moves.

"Very superstitious, writing on the wall." Carol sang along with the record and her words weren't husky, but they seemed to be ripping out of her throat with a low growl added to them. Just like the record. He found this drove him even more crazy than the husky way she was singing just earlier. And it was even worse now, because he couldn't sit down and hide it. She was pulling him along as she twirled with the record. He couldn't dance. He kept trying to pull away, but she always ended up tightening her grip on his upper biceps. He couldn't help but chuckle, but there was more than a hint of uncomfortableness in his chuckle. He was hoping she didn't hear it over the loud instruments over the player.

"Carol," He had to nearly shout over the record, "I can't dance!" She only smirked and continued leading him in dancing.

"As long as you don't step on my feet, you're fine!" She shouted back and continued twirling the two of them around the room. He felt funny doing this, but he also kind of liked it. He immediately scowled at himself mentally for liking it. Dixon's didn't dance. Then again, this girl was making him do a lot of things he didn't normally do, or would've thought he'd ever do. This girl was something else. Eventually, he seemed to get the hang of it as he moved his feet himself and actually started to lead her. Carol only smiled up at him at the sudden take of control. "See? You're getting the hang of it!" She smiled bigger as he hesitantly set his hands on her waist, her setting her hands on his shoulders. The record kept playing, track through track and they kept dancing. Until the record ended and a crackling sound repeated itself on an endless loop. She was the first one to pull away and place the record back in its case. She smiled at him as she walked by him to put the records back in the cabinet. "So, what'd you think about Mr. Wonder?" She asked, her back to him as she continued rummaging through the cabinet. Daryl just shrugged a little. To be honest, he wasn't really listening. He had his focus on her the whole time.

"I like it." It wasn't a complete lie. From the little bit he had heard, he did like the music. Carol chuckled, her back still to him; rummaging through the cabinet.

"You're a fast learner and pretty swift on your feet, Dixon." He couldn't help the heat rise up from his neck and to his face when she said that. Thank goodness her attention was on the contents inside the cabinet. He had no clue what she was doing; they were supposed to be on their way to school by now. Before he could even process what she was doing, she had the drapes closed, the lights off and a movie in the DVD player. "I say that we just call in sick, today," She said as she sat down on her bed, it moving under her. "Come watch the movie, with me." She patted the empty space beside her and he eventually obliged, slipping because he was not used to the feel of a waterbed at all.

"What're we watching?" He asked suddenly, as the T.V flicked through commercials. She didn't take her gaze off of the T.V as she answered him.

"It's one of my favorites, The Seven Year Itch." She looked over at him now. "Marilyn Monroe. You've had to have heard of her." This time, Daryl was able to nod. He'd never seen anything she was in, but he'd seen her on a poster or two some of the rare times he ever went into a store. From what he could gather, she was a pretty big star. "It's a real funny movie." Carol seemed real focused on the screen as the movie started. Daryl leaned back against the headboard and she sat right beside him, still focused on the movie. He hesitantly wrapped an arm around her shoulders and she responded immediately, moving up closer to him.

This was much better than sitting in school all day.

* * *

"This bonfire on Friday, do I have to bring anything?" Milton asked as him and Karen sat at a booth in the diner. She shook her head as she sipped at her smoothie.

"Just be there by seven." She smiled and he pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose as he nodded.

"Alright, I'll be there." She only smiled bigger at this and he couldn't help but smile a little himself. He was still a bit confused about what was going on with the two of them. He thought that her and Ed had something, but she didn't seem to be really hanging out with him since the other day at lunch. Maybe the only reason she had hung out with him today was because he was alone, since neither Carol or Daryl had shown up, today. He didn't think it was a coincidence that both of them were absent the same day; they must've been doing something together. Even Milton could see, even though he just met them a few days ago, that they were something more than friends, even if those two didn't realize it themselves. As if Karen could read his mind, she spoke next.

"Where're Daryl and Carol today?" She asked and Milton shrugged. She sighed and pulled her eyebrows in a frown. "I still need to apologize to Carol for the other day. I should've never spoken to her like I did." He knew she was referring to when they saw her when Carol had picked him up.

"She'll understand." Karen blew out a heavy breath and only nodded.

"What's up with the two of them, anyway?" Milton raised his eyebrows.

"Daryl and Carol? I don't really know. They're just pretty good friends, I suppose." Milton didn't even believe that. Maybe thats what they were right now, but Milton had a feeling it might progress from there. Just seeing them at dinner the other night; they had been flirting with each other the whole time, and had even left Milton alone with Merle Dixon. Milton was scared at first, but Merle was a lot different than Milton expected he would be. He didn't snap Milton in half, so that was a good start.

"I don't know..." Karen sighed as she plopped a fry into her mouth. "I thought Carol was his girlfriend and I told her that! How embarrassing." She still blushed, even just talking about it. He could even admit he had thought that they were boyfriend and girlfriend that first day of school, but quickly found out that was not the case when Daryl nearly pounced on him when he insinuated it in the lunch room. Milton shrugged once more.

"Who knows, maybe they will be, one day." Her phone went off and she jumped slightly as she excused herself and answered her phone. Milton just sipped at his drink as she conversed. She finally hung up the phone and started gathering her things.

"I have to go. My mom wants me to babysit my cousin." She took out a pen and quickly wrote something down on a napkin before handing it to him. "See you tomorrow, Milton!" He didn't look down at the paper until she walked out of the diner.

_'Bonfire, my place: Last house on Emerson road. Can't wait to see you there!' _After that was a drawn on smiley face and her phone number. Milton smiled to himself as he finished the order of fries.

Maybe Friday would be fun. Just maybe.

* * *

**All the bands and songs I mentioned in this, were some of my favorites. Also, I just LOVE Marilyn Monroe and I thought I'd worm these into the story a little bit. A little of Caryl action for you guys! This was a fun chapter to write and I hope you guys enjoyed it! New chapter soon. **

**Thank's for reading!**


	9. Chapter 9

**That last episode was like... Oh... My... God. I would've never guessed it was her! I don't want to give out any spoilers, so I'm just going to say I still love her and she will always be my favorite character. Plus, I think she did the right thing! Anyway, this chapter is sort of a filler but don't worry, the bonfire is coming up soon! And relationships are progressing! Hehe, I just love writing this story.**

**Hope you enjoy this!**

* * *

Merle found himself sitting in the parking lot of _Dale's Liquor _once again, making it twice in three days.

Today was Wednesday, and he had just been there Monday. He couldn't seem to get that Amy girl and her huge fucking smile out of his head. Besides, he should probably stock up on some more beer before his pa dragged his no good ass back home. Merle finally stood up, off of the bike and started in for the door. He was going to chat this girl up and see if she really was worth taking home or not. He hadn't been laid in a few days and he was itching for another screw. The familiar jingle of the bell attached to the door alerted anyone in the store that someone was walking in. Merle stopped in the doorway and looked around before walking to the back. It seemed no one was in here but him, Amy, who was leaned back in a chair at the register, reading a magazine and an old man in a fishermen hat, moping the tile floors around the store.

"Good afternoon, son." The old man, who he was assuming was Dale, said to him as he nodded slightly and continued mopping. Merle only nodded back in response and stared at the chilled freezers, containing the sweet contents he was looking for. His eyes gazed over the different variety, and he couldn't help but feel eyes on him as he stood there, staring. Nonetheless, when he looked over at Amy, she was looking over at him and Merle gave her a grin. The girl blushed and looked down back at the magazine in her hands. He quickly settled on a simple eight pack of beer and grabbed a pack of beef jerky before walking up to the register, placing his choices on the counter. Amy set the magazine down and stood up, smiling at him as she rang up his purchase.

"How are you today, Merle?" So, it seemed as if his name stuck with her. Then again, she lived in this town and Merle and his brother were basically famous around this town, and not for anything good. He smiled down at her and rested his forearms flat on the counter.

"I'm doin' fine now that I'm talking to you, sugar." Her face grew red and she threw him a sheepish smile. His response was to smirk back and continue throwing petty pick up lines. That was, until the old man was standing behind her, with a disapproving look on his face.

"Anything I can help you with, Amy?" He asked, seeming to ignore Merle right there. The girl looked up at Dale and shook her head.

"No, uncle. Merle and I here were just talking." This man was her uncle?! He felt like a complete moron for hitting on her, right in front of her _uncle._ He'd probably be banned from the goddamn store now.

"Well, it's nice that you're socializing but you know this job isn't going to last you forever. You need to make as much money as you can before heading back to college. You know you need to make as much money as you can in the next month, and I was nice enough to let you work here at the store. So, sweetie, please get back to work." She smiled up at her uncle and nodded. He walked away and through a door, leading to storage or something.

"That'll be ten ninety-seven for the beer and jerky." She said, her eyes on the buttons of the register. Merle stuck his hand in his pocket, searching for his wallet. Once he pulled it out and handed her the money, he spoke again.

"Whatcha goin' ta college fer?" He asked as she was counting change for him.

"I want to be a nurse, and to get money for student loans, I'm stuck working here." She blew out a breath in frustration as she placed his change back in his hand and gave him a weak smile. Merle stuffed the money back into his pockets and opened the jerky right there and started eating some, not quite ready to go yet.

"A nurse, huh?" He bit into a piece of jerky and made sure he was watching the door Dale had disappeared through. "How long ya gotta be in school for that?" He didn't know why the hell he was asking, but he needed to get a little bit of chat out of this girl and then worm his way in to see if he could get her home or not. She seemed to be interested in the conversation, even though her uncle had just told her to get back to work. She rested her elbows on the counter and set her chin in her hands, her green eyes locked on his blue ones.

"Well, I've been going ever since I got out of high school four years ago. I only have a few more years and I'll be working at one of the biggest hospitals up in Atlanta. Or at least, I hope." The girl was fucking twenty-two, and she already had a better idea of what she wanted to do with her life than he did now, or ever, really. Also, she was twenty-two and he was in his damn thirties. God, he felt like a dirty old man, but he continued talking anyways.

"All tha' schooling. Don't it get tiring?" Merle asked around a mouthful of jerky and Amy only shrugged.

"I guess sometimes it does. But my university is pretty open to giving out vacations if you have good grades and don't owe any work. Like yours truly." She flaunted slightly and Merle couldn't help but smirk.

"Well, Amy, it was nice talking ta ya," He said, standing up straight and grabbing his contents off of the counter. "But I think I'm gonna head out now, 'fore tha' uncle of yers tries to beat me. An' I can't hit no old man." He winked and started walking off towards the door.

"Hope to see you soon!" She shouted after him and he grinned over his shoulder.

"Ya sure will, sugar." Merle smirked and mounted his bike, once more. She'd see him again soon, possibly even tomorrow.

He had a feeling he'd 'be running out of beer' _very _soon.

* * *

Daryl and Carol were walking laps around the gymnasium, talking together.

"Admit it, you liked the Marilyn movies, yesterday!" The Seven Year something movie they watched yesterday wasn't where they had ended. They were okay movies, he supposed, but he just wanted to keep his arm around her shoulders as long as he possibly could. They had spent the rest of the day, watching old movies and cuddled up on her waterbed. It was something he was surprisingly comfortable with. He liked her pressed up against his side and his arm draped around her shoulders. That's all they simply did; watch movies and curled against each other.

"They were to fucking sappy." He grinned, once he realized he hadn't answered. There was no way he was admitting that he thought some of the movies were good. The ones he was able to focus one, anyway. Somewhere within the third movie, he was starting to get a bit nervous when she pulled the blanket over the two of them, it resting under her chin and he realized it was getting darker outside. He didn't end up leaving till around ten that night. He kind of considered it their second date, if that night at the diner was their first. They didn't kiss or anything like that because that'd just be silly and nerve-wracking and just her curled up against him was fogging up his thought process enough and he didn't need to make it worse by making a fool move and kissing her. He had no idea what to do if he was to kiss her, anyway. Even just the thought of kissing her, freaked him out to be honest. Even though that was something he really wanted to do. Her lips were pink and looked soft and whenever she bit her lip when she was frustrated or pouted out her bottom lip, it drove him absolutely crazy. He didn't even realize he was staring at her lips until she was gripping his arm, almost painfully. "Ow, what th' hell, woman?" She shushed him immediately and he followed her gaze and saw what she was looking at or, who.

Ed Peletier and his fucking posse was walking towards them, Ed looking smug as ever. Shane Walsh and Philip Blake stalking behind them. Daryl could feel himself scowl as they stopped right in front of the two of them, seeming to forget they were supposed to be walking around the gym. Ed placed his meaty hands on his hips and the smug smile on his face grew wider.

"Hey there, Carol." There was a tone to his voice that made Daryl clench his fists at his sides. This man and his nerve. "How've ya been?" Carol didn't answer him, but Daryl could feel her tense at his side as Ed leaned down and put his hand on the side of her face and she pulled away from him.

"Don' fucking touch her." Daryl found himself growling at Ed before he could even think. He looked up at Daryl, with the smug smile still on his face and stood back up straight.

"Who the hell asked you to talk, redneck?" He spat and Daryl could feel himself clenching his teeth and his shoulders tense up. He was going to fucking punch this guy, he was. "Been gettin' cozy with her, I see." Even the way Ed was standing was a smug position. His arms were now crossed over his chest and Daryl wished he could just pound that stupid smug smile off of his face. "How was the stargazing?" Ed smirked wider as Daryl felt his eyes widen. Carol spoke before Daryl was able to.

"How'd you know?" She squeaked out and it was barely audible over the shuffling of the other students feet. It was a good question, though. How the fuck did he know that they were stargazing?

"Saw ya. I was driving through town with Shane here, and we saw ya drivin' in that shitty pickup truck of yours and and we followed ya." This guy was seriously messed up. "So, Carol, you'll put out for a redneck, but not for ol' Ed, here?" He looked at Daryl and then back at Carol. "First time in a tailgate. Classy. How much did he pay ya?" That was it. Daryl could feel the fury rise up, all the way down from his toes and up to his head. He clenched his fists and was pulling one arm back to punch the no good bastard square in the face. He just insinuated Carol was some kind of prostitute, and that wasn't okay, at all. As he pulled his arm back farther, he was just about to introduce his fist to Ed's face when something stopped him. Carol's hand was suddenly in his, her fingers intertwined with his own and that was enough to make any anger simmer away as quickly as it had gotten there. He lowered his arm and peered down at her; her blue eyes wide and pleading.

"Don't." She told him quietly, pretending as if Ed wasn't standing there and hadn't just called her a whore. All he wanted to do was pummel the man right into the gym floor. But he just nodded and then looked down at their hands. This was different. They had touched hands before, but never _held _hands. He felt oddly comfortable with it. Ed looked down at their hands and any smug look or confidence he had before dispersed. He looked like he was about to say something, but Carol was pulling him away before they heard what Ed was going to say. Even though all he wanted to do was beat the shit out of Ed, he walked off with Carol; purposely bumping into Ed with a bit of force and telling him to stay the hell away from her.

Carol still had ahold of his hand as they walked through the empty halls, speaking that classes were still in session. She didn't say anything, but Daryl could tell she was upset.

"Ya know he was just tryin' ta get under yer skin, right?" Carol only nodded and kept staring straight ahead. They just walked in silence, fingers intertwined. He was starting to get nervous about the hand holding, now that he actually had time to think about it. He could feel his hand get sweaty and he was embarrassed, hoping she wouldn't notice. He wasn't even thinking when he started brushing his thumb against hers, trying to be as comforting as possible. She had to be upset about the things Ed said, because it even bothered him. Carol didn't deserve to be called things like that. And they definitely didn't need rumors about them hooking up in the back of his tailgate. Nothing like that happened. Her and him holding hands was the most they had ever done, really. Other than their few cuddling sessions. She hadn't said anything; she seemed to be thinking, so they continued walking in silence. They were just walking the empty halls, still and Daryl couldn't help but think that if there was people in the hall, he wouldn't still have ahold of her hand. It seemed like they wandered aimlessly through the halls until the bell rang. She took her hand away from his and turned to face him.

"I'm going to go change. If I'm late for math, just save my seat, alright?" She was barely looking at him and her voice was quiet. She sounded so sad and it mad his stomach turn. He just nodded, not trusting his own voice. She turned without another word and he watched her until she disappeared through the locker room doors. Students started filing out of classrooms and he realized he was standing in the middle of the hall like a fool. Daryl quickly looked down and started walking to his locker, avoiding the other students. Ed Peletier had gone to goddamn fair. He was taunting her, he put his hand on her and then he called her a whore; saying that Daryl paid her for sex. Worse yet, he had pretty much fucking stalked them and Daryl hadn't known! Next time that man even looked at Carol wrong, he was going to beat him until Daryl's own body ached. She might be pretending that she wasn't bothered by what he said, but it was obvious that she was. Seeing her upset made him physically hurt and he wanted to do what he could to make her feel better, but he didn't know how to comfort her. He'd take her stargazing again, see if that'd help, but he wasn't sure if that was a good idea considering they were stalked the first time around. Maybe he'd scrounge up whatever money he had around the house and go buy her a movie or CD. Whatever he could do to make her feel better, he'd do it.

Daryl continued thinking as he quickly grabbed his things from his locker and went into math class, taking his normal seat; waiting for Carol to come in and occupy the seat beside him.

* * *

New York was fantastic.

Lights. Historic landmarks. Broadway. It was better than Louis would've ever expected. There was always a sinking feeling in his gut, though, that Carol wasn't with him. He worried about her back home in Georgia, but Angela had insisted on them going to New York together. He didn't know what was going on with his daughter, but he knew she was off.

For one, she had broken up with Ed. Ed was a good guy, from what he was able to see and he suspected the whole reason she ended it was because of that Dixon kid. Louis had heard plenty about the Dixon's, to know that he didn't want his daughter mixed in with a group like them. Merle Dixon was nothing but a drug addict, who liked to get into trouble with anyone he could find. Daryl was most likely to follow in his older brothers footsteps. And their father Will Dixon, man. He was the worst of the clan. Drugs, alcohol, woman, prison time. That man was like the Buddha for convicts and it was said Merle was going to be just like him. If Merle turned into his father, and Daryl followed in Merle's footsteps, that'd mean that his daughter would be with an abusive, neglecting person and he would not allow that. Daryl Dixon was someone she did not need around.

He trusted Carol would make the right choice and stay away from him, but he was going to make sure she did.

* * *

Carol had been quiet the whole rest of the day.

Through math, lunch, social studies and now she was stone like; silent, her gaze on the surroundings the passed as Daryl drove her home. He needed to think of something, anything to make her feel better and to get that heart-breaking look of off her face. He had never been upset for someone before, but now that's all he was. Upset for her and pissed the hell off at Ed. That guy was going to pay for making her look like this, to feel this way. She had broken up with him so she could stop feeling this way and he didn't need to be antagonizing her. He just needed to leave her the hell alone. The ride was silent and Carol's eyes didn't move from their spot, but he kept sporting occasional glances at her as he drove in silence. He had pulled up into her driveway and by the time he had put it in park, she was already unbuckled and ready to get out of the truck.

This was different.

Each time he drove her home, he'd almost always be invited inside or they'd sit in the truck for a little while longer and just talk, but now she looked like she was just ready to bolt. Before he was thinking, he shot his arm out and gently grabbed her wrist.

" 'Ey." He said quietly as she turned her head to look at him, yet the rest of her body was still facing away from him. "Are ya really upset about wha' Ed said? Carol, he's jus trying ta..." She cut him off.

"Get a rise out of me, I know." It was the first thing she had said all day since the spat in the gym. Carol took a deep breath and turned her body to face him, crossing her legs onto the seat. "It's not really what he said to me, that upset me. I've heard worse. What made me upset was the fact that he riled you up like that and that you were about to punch him." So that's what she was so sad about? Him? Him wanting to beat the shit out of the asshole like he deserved. His ears perked and he raised his eyebrows, making sure his grip on her wrist was still gentle.

"Why in th' hell would ya be upset about that? He deserves it."

"Daryl," She let out an exasperated sigh, "He was trying to get under _your _skin. He was trying to get a rise out of you, not me. He wanted to coax you and have you punch him, so you could get in trouble and get kicked out of school. I couldn't let that happen." She was looking right in his eyes now, and her tone sounded more pissed off than angry. She did have a point, though. Daryl hadn't even really thought of it, cause all he saw at those few moments was red. If he had punched him, he would've gotten expelled. The school would've skipped the slap on the wrist part of things and expelled him. Hell, with the Dixon reputation, they probably would've called the goddamn cops.

"Ye don' gotta be worried 'bout me. Next time he tries somethin', I wont punch him, okay?" He knew that was most likely a lie, but he was just trying to calm her down. She only nodded and he took his hand away from her wrist. "He didn' bother me, so don't let it bother you." This whole comforting thing was coming along a lot better than he expected. To his dismay, it seemed to work because next he knew she smiled at him weakly and nodded.

"Want to stay for a little bit?" She asked, her eyes hopeful. He grinned and nodded.

"Sure." He took the keys out of the ignition as she hopped out of the truck, him following. Him staying at her house after school seemed to become a regular thing, sort of like a tradition.

He was really liking this tradition of theirs.

* * *

**I know its a bit on the short side and I'm sorry! It's just almost midnight, on a Wednesday and I have school in the morning so I need to get some sleep. This story recently hit 70+ followers and 30+ favorites and I am overjoyed! Thank you so much! The other day, I realized I started this story like two months ago, it's already got 30,000+ words and I don't even have ten chapters, yet. So, thank you everyone who is dealing with my snail pace, but I just want to make sure it's good for you all and I take writing so seriously. Plus, I get distracted really easily :P I'm trying to improve my snail's pace, so expect chapters coming sooner! I'll update this and ****_Changes _****very soon! **

**Thanks For Reading!**


	10. Chapter 10

**Hope you enjoy! :)**

* * *

Thursday seemed to go by like a blur.

It was Friday afternoon and Daryl, Milton, Carol and Karen were all sitting in their normal lunch spot under a tree, chatting quietly. Milton was already nervous for the bonfire tonight, and it was only noon. He was going home with Karen right after school to help prepare and he had just hoped someone else would be there with them. He didn't know how to deal with being alone with a woman for a long period of time. All at the same time, he was anticipating the bonfire; it would give him a chance to get out there, get out of his comfort zone a little. He sipped from his water bottle and looked around his group of peers.

"Are you two doing anything, tonight?" Karen asked Daryl and Carol, who were sitting beside each other, as usual but it seemed like they were closer than when they usually sat together. Their shoulders were pressed against each other and Daryl's right arm seemed to be stretched out behind her back, his hand resting on her left hip. From what Milton knew, they weren't dating or anything but with the way they were touching, he wold've guessed they were if he was just a random stranger. Carol was the one to answer the question.

"I'm not doing anything. I don't know about him." She crooked her head and motioned to Daryl. He just shrugged and grunted in response. Karen smiled and positioned herself on her knees.

"I'm having a bonfire at my house tonight and I want you two to be there." Carol nodded and smiled big almost immediately.

"Absolutely!" Milton was happy to see that Carol and Karen were becoming good friends, especially after their little spat on Sunday. Daryl's grip on her hip seemed to tighten a bit and he readjusted.

"I don' know." He looked at Carol. "Why don' we just watch movies tonight?" He asked her and Carol raised her eyebrows.

"You now automatically assume that you're coming over to my house whenever you please? Jeez, Dixon, way to be pushy." She chuckled to let him know she was joking and pushed his side slightly. He growled at her half heartedly and sighed loudly.

"Fine. We can go to tha' goddamn bonfire." He grumbled and slumped back against the tree they were sitting in front of. Carol turned to face him, sitting on her knees also, one eyebrow cocked up at him.

"You don't have to go with me, you know." Daryl and Carol were looking directly at each other and he mumbled.

"I wanna go wit' ya." Milton's ears perked and he couldn't help but grin at the completely naive couple. Carol smiled big and sat back in her spot beside him, his grip still on her hip. That's when Karen moved closer over to him and whispered in his ear as Daryl and Carol conversed quietly amongst themselves.

"Just friends, my ass."

* * *

Merle was breathing in and out, steadily.

He didn't know why he was so nervous, he had never been nervous in his whole goddamn life and it was actually pissing him off that he was on the verge of hyperventilating or some shit as he sat on his motorcycle, staring at the familiar liquor store.

He had realized that Amy wasn't like all the other woman he had ever picked up. She wasn't going to go in back and give him a quick screw like most of the woman he ever met at bars. Yeah, his only goal was to get in her pants still, but he knew he'd need to do things different in order to get her that way. He knew he was going to have to be all proper. Ask her out, take her to dinner or some shit and then maybe that night, she'd go back home with him.

So he didn't know why he was so nervous as he got of his bike and took a few long strides to the door, wrapping his hand around the handle and hesitating before finally stepping into the familiar scenery. The smell of alcohol burned his nostrils and the dim lighting surrounded him. He eyed Amy, who was sitting behind the counter as usual as he walked down the familiar aisles. He wasn't going to just go up front and ask her, he had to act casual. So that's what Merle did as he picked up the same beer he had picked up many times that week. He sat the beer down on the counter and Amy smiled at him.

"Back again, I see." She chuckled as she rang up the purchase and he smirked.

"Got that right, sugar. Couldn't resist." She raised an eyebrow slightly and smiled.

"You're becoming a regular here. Do you ever go out anywhere else?" He adjusted weight from one foot to the other and stuffed his hands in his pockets.

"Speaking of goin' out," He started, mustering up whatever confidence he needed and immediately mentally cursing himself for being such a pussy. "I want ya ta go out with me, sometime. What do ya say?" She bit her lip slightly and seemed to jumble the question around in her brain.

"Hm, I suppose." She pulled out a planner and bit the end of the pen that she was holding in her hand. "I'm free tonight." Well, damn. That was easy. The rest of this should be a piece of cake. He nodded and paid for his beer.

"Sounds good to me, sugar." He collected his change and picked up his purchase. "Pick ya up at eight?" She nodded and smiled, taking his hand and writing on the palm of it.

"See you then." He smirked and walked out of the store. He didn't read what was on his hand until he had mounted his bike once more.

'_I'll be at the store. Just make sure my uncle doesn't see you!' _Is what it read. Merle chuckled to himself and revved up the motorcycle.

This should be an interesting night.

* * *

Daryl and Carol were sitting at her house. Carol baking and Daryl sitting at the table, watching her.

She turned slightly to look at him sitting in his spot at the table and he looked away, once he realized he had been staring at her. He chewed his thumbnail and looked back over at her when he knew her attention was back on the batter she was stirring in the bowl on the counter, quiet music played over the radio but other than that, it was silent. She poured the batter into a pan and slid it into the oven, looking over at the clock. It was only five-thirty and they still had a good hour and a half till the bonfire. Daryl was not looking forward to the stupid thing at all, but Carol had basically volunteered him to go. Plus, if Ed was there, he was going to beat the shit out of him. The man's antics the other day still pissed him off and even thinking of it made him clench his teeth. Carol sat on the counter, legs crossed and licked the batter off the baking spoon. Watching her was enough to drive Daryl crazy and he actually had to cross his legs under the table when the space in between his legs started throbbing. Damn, he had a problem. He tried peeling his gaze away from her, but it seemed impossible. It was as if he was a child and she was some princess he couldn't take his eyes off of. She spoke as she continued to lick the batter off of the spoon.

"I'm actually pretty excited for this bonfire, tonight." He couldn't muster any words, scared that what might come out would be a squeaky, jumbled mess and so he only shrugged, still unable to stop watching her. She tilted her head before finishing with the spoon and placing it in the sink. She sighed, jumping gently off the counter and taking off the apron she had been wearing. She had flour on her chest where the V-neck cut off and it trailed up her arms. This girl was a messy baker.

"I'm going to go start getting ready." She announced to him. He raised his eyebrows.

"Already? We still got nearly two hours 'fore we gotta be there." Carol chuckled and took her hair out of its bun.

"I'm a girl, Daryl. Girls tend to take a while to get ready. Besides, I'm covered in flour. I need to go take a shower, do my hair, pick something to wear..." She was naming off different things that had Daryl nearly falling asleep in his chair.

"A'ight, I get it." He mumbled and sank low in his chair as she went to walk by him. To his surprise, she turned around and kissed him on the forehead. He tensed up immediately, and then relaxed once he remembered it was only Carol.

"Take the brownies out in a half hour." She whispered by his ear before really going upstairs this time. Shortly after, he heard water running and he closed his eyes, leaning his head back in his chair.

It was killing him knowing she was showering right upstairs, and he was stuck downstairs, babysitting a batch of brownies.

* * *

Milton put the bunch bowl in the middle of the snack table before setting his hands on his hips and looking around at the setup.

Karen's house was a huge, blue one with a spacious backyard. She had rented an outdoor tent and the tent had a snack table at the far end, a DJ setting up in the front right hand corner and lights dancing around. There was a fireplace in the front yard, but Milton had a feeling that it wouldn't even be touched tonight. He didn't know how many people were invited tonight.

There was him, student council, Carol and Daryl, surely Ed and his jock friends would be there. Then again, maybe not. Karen hadn't really seemed to talk to him since that Sunday. There was still a part of Milton that was nervous that this was all a setup and she was secretly planning someway to humiliate him. He decided that was just his nerves talking and he shook off the thought. Karen wouldn't do something like that. He went to turn around and nearly ran into Karen, who was holding a flask in her hand. She laughed at him as his eyes widened.

"Karen," He began. "What's that?" He pointed to the metal container in her hand and she quirked an eyebrow.

"Don't worry, Milton. It's only beer." She walked past him and began pouring the contents into the punch bowl. He watched her as she stirred the liquid into the punch.

"You're- You're spiking it?" He asked, pushing his glasses up his nose. She chuckled slightly and finished stirring the punch.

"Milton, it's no big deal. Nobody will even notice." She poured him and herself a cup of the tainted punch and reached her hand out to hand it to him. He just stared at it, as if it were some foreign object until she nudged it in his hand. "Come on. Live a little." She raised her plastic cup up a little for cheers and he hesitantly clanked his cup against hers and took a small sip. She was right; it wasn't even noticeable. He actually found himself liking it. They sat in one of the chairs on the sides of the tent and talked while they waited for the others to show up. Milton hadn't even realized it, but he already drank all of his punch. They were still idly chatting when suddenly, Karen pulled him up by the hand and yanked him to another, small tent that he hadn't even noticed. When Milton walked in, he realized it was a photo booth. Karen really outdid herself with this party. She sat down on the small seat and patted the space beside her for him to sit. He did so, and she closed the curtains on each side of the booth before tapping the screen. She scooted closer to him as an automated voice counted down from three. Milton had never taken pictures in a photo booth before, and he didn't know what to do. So he just smiled. A blinding flash went off and once the picture was taken, he went to stand up when he realized there was three more pictures to be taken. He didn't know what to do know. Milton looked over at Karen and was surprised to see that she was looking at him also. Her head was more at a tilted angle, so it seemed as if he was towering over her, their lips seemingly close. The camera flash went off for the second time, but neither of them made a move; not even a flinch. When the voice was counting down to one on the third picture, he leaned down a little and lightly pressed his lips against hers as it finished counting down.

She responded almost immediately, and seemed to know more what she was doing than he did as she kissed him back, not very lightly. Milton was more than beyond nervous but he didn't pull away. He was enjoying this. They kissed throughout the fourth picture and didn't stop even then. That was until, they heard the first car pull up onto the driveway and she pulled away, but kept her hands on his cheeks. She smiled weakly at him and he chuckled nervously. It didn't seem like that had even happened, but at the same time, the event made his head spin.

"First guest," She said, pulling her hands away. "Best get going." Milton simply nodded as they both stood up, exiting separate ways. She came over to his side and picked up the photo strip in the delivery slot. She stood behind him and held it in the middle so they both could look at it. Nonetheless, the first one was a normal picture of them smiling. The second one was them staring at each other and the last two was of them kissing. Milton felt his head flush with heat as he stared at the photo strip and she handed it to him.

"You want me to keep it?" He asked and she nodded, a smug smirk on her face.

"There might not be two copies, but we can always take more pictures later." He felt himself smirking and she kissed him again quickly and turned around, walking to the front yard to greet whoever had shown up. Milton slid the precious picture into his pocket and followed after her.

Maybe tonight would be a good night.

* * *

Carol was up by the punch bowl, pouring herself her sixth or seventh cup. She didn't know what kind of punch this was, but it was really good.

She turned around as she sipped from the cup and saw Daryl approaching her. She pulled on his sleeve when he approached her and smiled big.

"Daryl, have you tried this punch? It's so good!" She raved and drank more before he took the cup away from her mouth.

"Lemme see tha'." He brought the plastic cup to his lips and she didn't know why, but that seemed to drive her half crazy. She watched him as he drank from the cup and then smacked his lips together. "Carol, I don' know if ya know this, but this is spiked." Her eyes widened and she shook her head.

"You're crazy, give me the cup back." She reached for the cup but he pulled it out of her reach.

"Yer fucking drunk." Even though there was seriousness in his tone, Carol saw him smirking, as if he found the fact she was drunk hilarious. She stepped to grab the cup, but ended up stumbling and he caught her right before she face-planted into the ground. She nodded and blew a piece of hair out of her face.

"I'm drunk." She agreed as she pressed the side of her face against his chest and weakly closed her eyes. He didn't do anything for a moment, but eventually he set both of his hands on the small of her back, kind of pushing her against him closer. She wrapped her arms around his mid-section and they lazily swayed in the middle of the room. It wasn't even a slow song, but Carol felt like this was one of the most romantic things ever. She felt warm pressed against him and felt even better when he must've felt comfortable enough to get even closer and gently set his chin on the top of her head. She smiled widely, her eyes still closed as they continued swaying. She didn't even look up until she heard the fast song come to a halt and a slower song came on. She recognized it almost immediately.

"Vienna," She said. "Billy Joel. Damn, this is a good song." Her gaze swept around the couples slow dancing together on the floor and she saw Milton and Karen slow dancing also, but they kept stealing glances at Daryl and Carol, smug looks on their faces. She had a feeling they were the ones who played this song. She shook her head and laid it back on Daryl's now tense chest. They weren't as close as they were before and Daryl seemed more uncomfortable than before, but Carol was to buzzed to even care. He'd get over it. And she was pretty sure if he didn't hold her, she'd stumble and fall. He was the only thing physically keeping her up right now. She couldn't help but chuckle at herself; she had never been drunk before. She didn't even realize the punch was spiked until Daryl told her so and then she just felt silly. After a few moments, she felt Daryl relax under her and he rested his chin on top of her head once more, pulling her close again. Carol couldn't help but feel sleepy. Between being pressed against him, the calming music and her heavy eyelids from the beer anyway, she was pretty close to falling asleep on her feet. She thought she had fallen asleep and was dreaming about rain, when she felt Daryl tugging her hand and she felt drops of wetness hit her forehead. It really was raining and Daryl was pulling her away to his truck. She squinted her eyes up to the dark sky and saw that clouds were forming and it was down-pouring already. They made it to his truck quickly, but her hair had still managed to get soaking wet and her shirt was sticking to her skin. She sat in the passenger seat as Daryl made his way around the truck and into the drivers seat. Goosebumps trailed her arms and she huddled her knees close to her chest.

" 'Ey," Daryl said, shaking his head, stray raindrops hitting her. "Shoes off th' seat." He motioned to her pulled up legs and she only stuck her tongue out at him and didn't move.

"I'm cold." Carol complained as she rested her forehead on her knees. He nudged her legs back down with his hand.

"I'll get ya a sweater, but get them damn shoes off my seat. I gotta keep somethin' nice." He swept away some of the dirt from her shoes and she smirked as he reached in the back seat and pulled out a basic gray sweatshirt and threw it at her. She held it up then looked at her rain soaked shirt.

"Daryl, if I put this on over my shirt I'd kind of be defeating the purpose of getting dry, don't you think?" She quirked an eyebrow at him and he just shrugged. "Turn around." She demanded.

"Wha'?" He narrowed his eyes at her.

"Turn around." She repeated, letting a little annoyance show in her tone. His eyes widened.

"Ye ain't strippin' down in my damn truck." He sounded more scared than angry, and it made her chuckle a bit.

"I'm not stripping down, I'm taking off my soaking wet shirt and then putting the sweater on." Why was he freaking out about this? She was telling him to turn around so maybe she wouldn't freeze her ass off. "Either turn around now or I'm just going to change in front of you." That seemed to do the trick, because he turned and looked out his window. Woman seemed to scare him more than anything. Carol chuckled and quickly took her shirt off, replacing it with the gray sweater and instantly felt warm. She gave Daryl the okay to turn around, but saw he was already turned. That peeping Tom! She scoffed in disbelief and hit his arm playfully. "Let's get going before the weather gets even worse." She looked up at the sky and saw a flash of lightning span across. Georgia storms always got bad pretty quickly.

"Yes, ma'am." He muttered and started slowly pulling out of their parking spot. Carol smirked and continued looking out the window as they drove. It was getting really bad. She didn't want Daryl driving home in this weather. It looked like it was going to be a hurricane. The winds were picking up and actually caused them to veer off to the side a bit. Daryl drove much slower after that and when they made it to her house, they sat in the truck for a few minutes before he shut it off and they bolted towards the house. Despite their efforts of trying not to get wet, they got soaked. She shook her head kind of like a dog and chuckled.

"So much for the sweater." She sighed and ran her hands through her dampened hair. Daryl ran his hands down his face, trying to get rid of any raindrops that were there.

"Talk about a party crasher." He complained as he untied his boots. He was getting into the habit quickly.

"Yeah," Carol agreed as she kicked off her own boots. "Maybe you should stay the night." She suggested, nonchalantly. He looked over at her and narrowed his eyes, as if seeing if she was kidding or not. She stepped closer to him and quirked an eyebrow, setting her hands on her hips and waited there with an expectant look, letting him know she was suggesting this in full seriousness. He still seemed indecisive and bit his lip slightly. She couldn't help it; her eyes flicked to his and she quickly had to look back at his eyes to make sure she wouldn't stare to long. "Well?" She asked, once he had been just biting his lip and still hadn't given her an answer.

"Where am I s'posed ta sleep?" He asked and she smirked, deciding to tease him.

"With me, of course." His eyes widened and it took all of her composure to not laugh; she needed him to think she was serious.

"What?" His voice was a few octaves higher than usual and it took _everything _in her not to double over and laugh. "Yer serious?" He narrowed his eyes again and she really hoped she had a good poker face when she nodded.

"Yep. We could watch movies and fall asleep, together." _Keep it together, Carol. _She reminded herself. God, she really was an evil person, teasing him like this. Her acting must've been better than she thought, because he shrugged and nodded.

"A'ight. It sounds... Nice." Uh, oh. Now that she had convinced him that she was serious and he took the bait, she felt bad. Maybe he really could sleep in here bed with her; she had a big enough bed and that's all they'd be doing: sleeping. She nodded instead of telling him she was joking.

"Okay," She started as she turned for the stairs, Daryl following suit. "I'll let you borrow some of my dads pajamas and I'll throw your clothes in the dryer." He didn't say anything and she assumed he just nodded behind her. She directed him towards her room and she went to her fathers room and quickly picked out a pair of her fathers flannel pajama bottoms and a grey shirt. When she brought him the clothes, he had been staring at her record player. She chuckled; he sure did love that thing. She handed him the pair of clothes and showed him where the bathroom was. She chose out a pair of her own pajamas and changed quickly in her bathroom. Carol put her wet hair up in a bun and brushed her teeth. By the time she had finished, Daryl had been done for a while and when she walked out, he was rummaging through her movie cabinet. She watched quietly; he knew she was there, but he kept looking through the movies until he found one that caught his eye.

"This one." He held up a DVD case to her and she walked over.

"Oh, this movie is amazing!" She exclaimed, once she saw the title. Silence Of The Lambs, one of her favorites. "You want to watch it?" He nodded and handed her the case. She put it in and heard him settling himself on her waterbed. "You ever seen it before?" She asked, putting the DVD into the player and then turned to face him. He shook his head and she raised her eyebrows as she closed the light off and closed the door. "Then how'd you choose it?" He shrugged.

"I liked the cover." She chuckled and settled herself under the blankets beside him.

"Anthony Hopkins is amazing. He got his first oscar for his role in this." He looked down at her and hesitantly draped his arm over her shoulders.

"Ye know yer shit, huh?" She nodded.

"This movie is seriously amazing." Neither of them spoke after that; they were focused on the movie. Even though it was one of her favorites, Carol felt her eyelids get heavy and her breathing deepen as she pressed herself closer to his side and sleep took over her.

* * *

"Well, ain't this a downer." Merle frowned as he looked out the liquor store window at the sheets of rain. Him and Amy had just been about to leave for their date when the storm started and he was _not _driving in this weather. He turned back around to face her and she shrugged.

"We've got liquor, pizza and a T.V. My uncles sleeping in his apartment upstairs; I say we just have our date here." Merle shrugged as he walked around the coolers of alcohol and took out an eight pack of beer.

"Don' seem like we got much choice, sugar." He brought the beer over and sat down beside her on the floor, a small T.V in front of them. He set the beer in between them as she opened the box of pizza and grabbed a slice while she flicked on the T.V. They ate and watched television while making small talk all at the same time. This girl was funny, he'd give her that. And her smile was enough to knock him off his feet. She really was beautiful. A much better sight than the woman he usually picked up and better yet, she had all her teeth and they were white; not yellow. He picked up his bottle and raised it up slightly, her doing the same thing.

"Ta rainy nights." He chuckled.

"To rainy nights." She repeated and they clinked their bottles together. He downed the last of that bottle and focused his eyes back on the T.V.

He couldn't help but feel sappy by the little toast, and felt the corners of his lips turn up when he realized he was actually enjoying himself.


	11. Chapter 11

**This is kind of a filler chapter. Eh, I know, I hate fillers too. But sometimes they're just needed! Hope some of you like this chapter! Oh, and I posted a new story titled ****_Gone. _****Please check it out if you could!**

**Hope you enjoy!**

* * *

Carol woke up and she lifted her head slightly in the dark room.

The only light was static from her T.V and the sudden sparks of lightning outside. She couldn't tell if it was morning or night because the rain and winds were still going strong so the clouds would've made the sky dark if it was morning. She went to sit up but was held back by a pair of strong arms. Her face was buried in the crook of Daryl's neck and she could feel his hot breath on her ear. She realized his cheek was pressed against the side of her head and his arms were wrapped around her, his hands resting on the small of her back. They were sleeping like they had in the back of Daryl's truck and she still liked it just as much. He was holding her closer than he had the morning when they had woken up in the field; he seemed more comfortable this time. Not stirring in his sleep, not mumbling inaudible words. He just held her close and slept peacefully; she could even hear him snoring soundly but she really needed to get up. She had a pounding headache and she felt like she was going to get sick any minute now. But she really didn't want to wake Daryl up when he looked so peaceful. Maybe he'd be tired enough that she could get up without waking him.

Carol reached her hands behind her back and slowly untwined his fingers, gently setting his hands on the pillow. She moved her head away from the crook of his neck and his cheek gently hit his hands that were resting on her pillow. She watched him as she turned on her side and swung her legs around to the side of the bed and quietly stood up. She thought she was good until she felt a gruff hand wrap around her wrist. She squealed and turned back around to face him.

"Where ya goin'?" He asked, sleep still in his voice. His eyes weren't even open and he seemed to completely accept the fact he was sleeping in her bed.

"To throw up." She answered honestly, hoping he'd let go of her wrist. Daryl only chuckled and tightened his grip on her wrist more.

"Ye hungover?" He smirked, his eyes still closed. She tried tugging her wrist out of his grip but he didn't budge. This guy was evil, real evil. He found the fact that she was about to upchuck was hilarious and he seemed to find it even more hilarious she was going through her first hangover and it _sucked. _

"Daryl," She whined, almost like a child. "My head is pounding and I'm about to lose my dinner all over you if you don't let go of my wrist. Now." That seemed to do it, because he mumbled something under his breath and let go of her wrist, turning onto his back and keeping his eyes closed. Carol shook her head and gave out a faint chuckle before turning around and rushing down the hall to the bathroom. Almost as soon as she kneeled in front of the toilet, she threw up in it. She groaned as her head pounded even more. She was _never _drinking again; hangovers sucked. She was just about to pull away and stand up when she got sick again and she didn't dare move after that. Not even when her stomach felt like it had settled, she stayed on her knees in front of the toilet. She didn't look up at the light footsteps as they walked on the tile bathroom floor.

"Here." A gruff, still tired voice said as something was shoved in her direction. She looked up and saw that Daryl was holding two aspirins and a glass of water. She took the aspirins quickly and downed the water.

"Thank you." She exasperated as she downed the last gulp. Her head started feeling better after that, but her stomach still felt warped and she continued to stay in her spot. "Hangovers suck." She whined and Daryl only shrugged.

"Told ya the punch was fuckin' spiked." He smirked. That asshole thought this whole thing was funny.

"Goddammit, Karen." She whimpered and slowly pulled away from her spot, sitting straight up and leaning her head against the wall.

"Least she got ya drunk enough ta dance with me." Carol squinted her eyes open to look at Daryl. She was the one who needed to be drunk to dance with him? Right. If it was anyone who needed to drink to chill the hell out, it was Daryl. She went to give out a petty laugh, but found when she did it caused her head to ache again.

"Owww," She drew the sound out and closed her eyes again. She heard Daryl chuckle and stuck her tongue out at him. "Glad you find this funny. You're such an ass sometimes, you know that?" She showed a little annoyance in her voice, but other than that her tone was serious. His only response was to chuckle again.

"If I'm such 'n asshole, why do ya keep hangin' out with me?" Carol shook her head and shrugged.

"I have no clue. I have a feeling you only use me for my record player." All seriousness was gone from her voice and she was simply teasing Daryl.

"Dammit, ya caught me." She could just imagine him standing there in front of her, smirking. Her eyes were still closed; her head leaning against the wall.

"Asshole." She repeated, still teasing. She didn't hear anything and for a second she thought he had left, until she felt one arm behind her back and another one under the crook of her knees. She opened her eyes quickly and even that slight gesture had her head throbbing again. Carol saw Daryl kneeling down beside her, his arms around her and without effort, he picked her up. Her first instinct was to wrap her arms around his neck, but she decided that might make him uncomfortable so she just gripped his upper arms as he carried her out of the bathroom.

"Do ye weigh a fucking thing?" Daryl asked as he carried her back to her room. She didn't trust her voice so she only shook her head. What was he doing? He wasn't going to try to get with her, was he? Especially not while she was hungover. Her worries evaporated when he gently laid her under the covers and patted her feet. "Want me to put on a movie, fer ya?" Carol nodded slightly again and he stood up and walked over to her cabinet and she watched as he picked a movie. She couldn't help the heat rise in her face when she thought about how sweet he was being, right now. He brought her aspirin, carried her to her room and actually tucked her in bed and now he was picking out a movie for her. She didn't usually see this side of Daryl, but she didn't mind it one bit. She was hoping he'd show it more often. He finally picked a movie and slid it into the player before hesitantly lying beside her. She welcomed him immediately and scooted over, giving him room. They ended up pressed against each others sides anyway and Carol wearily rested her head on his chest. He set his hand on her shoulder and she watched the previews on the screen.

"What'd you pick?" She questioned. She felt him shrug.

"Don' know. Guess ya gotta see." She chuckled and nudged his ribs playfully. The previews ended and an opening screen for a movie started. Carol nearly groaned out loud when she saw what movie he had picked.

"Ugh, really? A Nightmare On Elm Street?" She rolled her eyes and moved onto her back so the back of her head was resting on his chest and she was looking straight up at him. "This movie is awful."

" 'Ey," He pulled his eyebrows together. "This is a goddamn classic." She shook her head.

"No, Dirty Dancing is a classic. This is an underdone, cheesy Hollywood movie." Daryl got that mischievous grin on his face.

"Get up 'n change it, then." The jerk knew her body ached to much to do anything and this was her whole plan. She was stuck watching this. She turned back around to the television so now her cheek was resting on his chest.

"Jerk." She mumbled and Daryl only laughed and twirled one of her red curls around his finger. She found the motion soothing and probably would've dozed off, if it wasn't for the sudden boom of thunder that had her whole house shaking and her jumping. That's when Daryl laughed again and she actually dug her rib into his side this time.

"Th' hell ya gotta be so abusive fer?" He flinched and she shrugged.

"Why're you still in my house?" She was teasing him. She didn't mind him here and actually didn't want him to leave.

" 'Cause it's rainin' fucking dogs and cats out there." He motioned to the window and Carol quirked an eyebrow.

"So you're using me for shelter? And food? Daryl, I'm no soup kitchen." She chuckled when he pushed her head and then she heard him laughing also. "Alright, alright. You can stay, goodness."

" 'Ey, wasn't my ass who told me I could sleep in yer bed." He reminded her and she shook her head.

"Shut up and watch your movie." They were quiet after that and Carol found herself subconsciously biting her nails as she stared at the wall; not paying attention to the movie at all. She was thinking about how they were cuddled up together, but it felt different. It wasn't 'friends cuddling' no, it was more than that. But she didn't know what it was. They weren't dating, because he hadn't asked her or anything. They hadn't kissed or anything. All they'd done so far was cuddle together but it felt like a lot more. She had been trying to ignore the thought, but this wasn't friendly cuddling; this was the kind of cuddling couples would do. It happened very solemnly in her and Ed's relationship, but when it did it felt romantic. About as romantic as Ed could get, anyway. This felt special. Nice. Were they a couple? They spent more of their time together than not; they cuddled, flirted. But that didn't make them a couple. Daryl would have to ask her to be his girlfriend for it to be an official thing and she kind of had a hard time picturing him doing that. She wasn't going to question it.

She was going to cuddle into the side of the redneck who had quickly grown to be her best friend, stop over-thinking and watch this goddamned movie with him.

* * *

"Whew," Angela blew out a breath as she pulled the blankets to her chin to cover up her bare body. "Thank you, Hilton and your thick walls." She chuckled as she looked over at Louis laying beside her. He smirked at her before getting up and getting dressed. She watched him as he tied on his dress shoes.

"Where are you going?" She questioned? He looked at her over his shoulder and sighed.

"I have a little bit of work to do while we're here. It wont take long. I just have to go to the Avenue and make sure the offices are working properly." Much to his surprise, Angela only nodded and sat up, holding the blanket to her chest.

"Maybe when you get back we could go see a show? I've heard great reviews about the newest one out." He nodded and stood up off the edge of the bed.

"Sure," He looked down at his watch. "I shouldn't be more than an hour." He informed her before slipping on his tux coat.

"See you in an hour." She smiled weakly and he smiled back.

"See ya." He repeated before exiting through the door. As he walked down New York's streets he couldn't help but think of Carol. She had always wanted to go to New York and he had lied to her and gone with Angela and left her in Georgia. Did that make him a bad man? Surely not. How many parents _don't _lie to their children every once in a while? He was sure the answer was slim to none.

He tried convincing himself he'd done nothing wrong as he walked down the crowded hallways to his offices. But even as he walked into the office, he still had a sinking feeling in his stomach.

* * *

Merle woke up on a hard surface and blinked sleep out of his eyes multiple times.

Even though he was laying on a hard surface, he could feel some sort of soft material under him; like a blanket or something. He went to sit up in the dark room and see if he could collect his bearings. What had happened? Had he gotten high and drifted off in some random room? He didn't remember smoking or shooting himself up so that couldn't have been the case. He looked out a small window and saw rain coming down in sheets, the wind blowing hard enough to bring decent sized tree branches with it. Looked like wherever he was, he was staying.

Merle nearly jumped to his feet when he felt hot breath on his arm. He looked down and his eyes, which were still adjusting to the dark, were focused on the sleeping blonde beside him. Amy. Now he remembered. They had had their date at the liquor store because of the storm and had eaten pizza, drank beer and watched T.V until they both must've dozed off on the blanket she had laid down on the hardwood floor. He realized her arms were wrapped around his waist and he had an arm around her back. Were they... Cuddling? Surely not. Merle Dixon did _not _ cuddle. But that was surely what it looked like as he studied the positions they were in. She was simply pressed up against his side and, unfortunately, they still had their clothes on. He moved his toes and found that his feet were bare as they rubbed on another blanket that they were covered up with. He looked around for a clock, but found that all the automatics were blinking mindlessly with no numbers displayed or the wall clocks were frozen in place. The power must've gone out overnight. He had no way to tell if it was day or night and someone could walk in on them at anytime. With the weather, he was pretty positive he didn't have to worry about a stranger walking into the store, but he had bigger worries.

Dale.

As far as he knew, Dale didn't know he was there. And if he walked downstairs from his apartment, he'd see his niece and the town menace cuddling together in a jumble of blankets. That wouldn't be good. Merle tried standing up, but for the small thing she was, Amy had an iron grip. He was stuck where he was and if her uncle were to walk in at that moment, there'd be nothing he could do about it. He was getting uncomfortable sitting up, so he figured if there was nothing he could do, he'd lay back down; so that's what he did.

Hesitantly, Merle laid back down next to Amy and almost as if it was automatic, she laid her head on his chest and continued sleeping; snoring quietly. Merle chuckled. He wasn't sure if he found something funny or if he was simply trying to calm his nerves. Personal space had always been a virtue and now it seemed like he was throwing caution out the wind. Sure, he'd screw a girl, any girl, for that matter, but cuddling like this seemed more intimate than sex. He was a Dixon and Dixon's didn't cuddle. He wasn't sure if he liked it or not, but he refused to let himself like it. It was uncomfortable. It was odd. He kept programming those words into his head but it just didn't quite seem to work. He still always felt slightly comfortable being pressed up against her. He hadn't even realized how tense he was until he blew out a breath and his shoulders eased. Merle closed his eyes and steadied his breathing.

He couldn't help but wonder what his brother might be doing as he drifted off back to sleep.

* * *

Milton and Karen were sitting inside her house, on her couch, making out.

They had seemed to be doing a bit of this ever since the photo booth, but Milton didn't mind one bit. He didn't want to toot his own horn or anything, but he was pretty sure he was getting the hang of it. The T.V screen shone off of them as some random show played and rain pattered on the roof. The rain hadn't let up at all since last night and it had been the ultimate party crasher. There was no way he would've been able to drive home in this weather, so he called his mom and informed her he'd be staying with a friend tonight. He was purposely very vague with details about _whom _he was staying with, but his mother agreed that he shouldn't be driving in this weather and there was no way he'd want his mom coming out to get him. She wasn't the greatest driver even in the best of weather so who knows how she'd be in a storm like this. Milton was almost positive it was a hurricane. That was Georgia, for you. It'd be sunny and warm one minute then cold and down-pouring the next. Maybe if it was a hurricane he'd be able to stay with Karen a few days. He'd like that.

After a long time, Karen pulled away from him. Just a little bit, though. She was close enough that Milton could feel her breath hitting his face.

"You're comfortable with this, right?" She whispered suddenly and Milton nodded. She smiled. "I just wanted to make sure I wasn't forcing you into anything."

"Of course not." Milton shook his head and reassured her that he was enjoying this and it was as much his actions as it was hers. She smiled and kissed him again after that and they stayed kissing for a while longer.

Milton couldn't help but smirk against her lips when he thought about how Daryl and Carol hadn't even kissed yet and now here he was, just barely a two weeks into his new school life and he was making out with one of the prettiest girls in the school.

It appeared as if he just might've been more experienced than his redneck friend.

* * *

He stared down at an old picture of them in his hands.

They were standing in front of the lake, their arms wrapped around each other and smiling brightly as the camera snapped the picture. He was wearing swim trunks, a shirt and dark sunglasses while she wore a one piece bathing suit and had her hair up in a bun. It was a happy time he could recall. An early time. Maybe two months into their three year relationship.

His grip tightened on the picture as he stared down at it longer. The Carol is this picture was different than the Carol he knew now. The Carol in the picture was the good Carol, _his _Carol. The Carol now was a worse, tainted version of the Carol in this picture. The Carol now surrounded herself with people like Daryl Dixon and Milton Mamet. The Carol now thought she had the right to flaunt herself around and talk to him as if she was something she had scrapped off the heel of her shoe and not a man she had spent nearly her whole high school life with. The Carol in this picture told him she wasn't ready for sex and the Carol now was probably selling herself off to _both _Dixon brothers. The Carol now was tainted. Simple as that.

He didn't know what had gotten into her head these past few months, but whatever it was pissed him the hell off. He wasn't a goddamn fly she could shoo off. She was _his. _Not Daryl Dixon's; not Milton Mamet's, but his. She was his girl and she needed to know that. She needed to know he would not be putting up with the treatment she had been giving him the past few weeks and that she could say it was over all she wanted, but it wasn't. It wouldn't be ever on his watch. And as long as it wasn't over, she wouldn't act like the conceited bitch she had been acting like ever since the Dixon's stepped in. No, she would act like his Carol. His quiet, sweet, obedient Carol who would know better than to gesture him away and to think twice before opening her mouth.

He was going to get his Carol in this picture back and he didn't care what he had to do to do it. He would pry her away from Daryl's cold, dead hands if that was what it took. He would teach her a lesson more often than he had before because it was obvious it hadn't worked out before when he was easy on her. Now he would make sure she was in check and always know what she was doing and who she was with. He was going to make sure she knew where she stood and that was in his shadow. He was going to make sure she would be taught a lesson. He would throw her back in line and he'd make sure she knew who to answer to and when to answer to them. He was going to make sure she knew who his Carol was and that she never lost touch with her.

Oh yes, Ed was going to get the Carol from the picture back and he was going to have a fun time doing it.

* * *

**Relationships everywhere! Haha. I hope someone out there liked this chapter. And Ed, goodness. I got plans.**

**Thanks for reading!**


	12. Chapter 12

**I'm really nervous about this chapter, like you have no idea! I have never been this nervous about posting a chapter to this story before. I don't know if something like what happened in this chapter has ever been done before in fanfiction, but it's happened in multiple RP's that I've done with High-School Carol and Daryl and it's worked out pretty well in the RP's so I thought: "Hm, why not?" I'm so so so nervous about this chapter and hope some of you are open to it. Ugh.**

**Hope someone enjoys.**

* * *

The storm was still going strong on Monday.

It had been three days since it started, and it showed no chance of letting up. Carol was now positive it was a hurricane, but it didn't frighten her. Georgia hurricanes were always bad, but it was normal. Daryl hadn't been able to leave her house, but she wasn't complaining. He was fun to be around and it was just like they were hanging out after school, only for three straight days.

She was painting in her art room and when she had last left her bedroom, he had been sound asleep on her bed. There hadn't been much activity in her house the past three days; they mostly watched movies in her room and cuddled together on her bed, but she was happy to be able to get away and go paint for a little while. She definitely wouldn't have pictured Daryl someone who liked cuddling, but he didn't say anything so she assumed he liked it. She enjoyed it, but she had this idea for a painting in her head the past weekend and it was going to drive her nuts if she didn't paint it.

Her idea had been that of a crossbow, lying on a table, but instead of a regular arrow, it was a love arrow, one much like you would see in a drawing or something of Cupid. Carol felt her face heat up just as she thought about it, but the idea had lodged itself into her brain and wouldn't leave until she finally put it on paper. She definitely didn't plan on showing it to anyone, especially not Daryl, it was just something she had to jot down. It was a painting she quickly finished, yet she had managed to get paint on her clothes and she was pretty sure she had gotten some on her face. It was all over her hands, but that was expected, speaking that she had finger painted.

Carol left the painting on the easel to let it dry and shut the light off, shutting the door behind her as she walked out of her art room. She looked down at the dried on brown red and silver paint on her hands and sighed. She wouldn't be able to take a shower because of the lightning storm still going on outside. She sighed as she looked at herself in her bathroom mirror. Paint was her forehead and on her chin, a little bit on her nose. She had no clue how she had managed to get paint on those places, but she had managed to do so. She looked around her bathroom frantically, hoping to find wipes of some sort, but she couldn't find anything in her bathroom. She groaned and walked out of her bathroom, only for a strong arm to stop her as it wrapped around the front of her waist. She screamed slightly and then looked at Daryl, who was laughing. She pushed his shoulders and crossed her arms.

"It's not nice to scare people, Daryl." He shrugged.

"Who said I was nice?" He smirked and she pushed him again. He caught her by the wrist and stared at the paint on her hands. "Been paintin', I see." He smirked more and looked up at the paint on her face and she could feel herself blush. " 'N on yer clothes, Jesus, woman, messy much?" She stuck her tongue out at him like the child she truly was, and took her wrist out of his grip.

"Yes, I was painting and now I need to go find something to get all of this damn paint off of me." She went to walk out of the room, again, but his arm caught her around the waist, once more.

"Whatcha paint?" He asked, and she could feel her face flush.

"Nothing." She answered quickly and twirled her way out of his arm and started walking down the hall to the guest bathroom. She heard his footsteps following her and she walked into the bathroom. Closing the door quickly, she looked in the sink cabinet and found a thing of wipes under the sink. "Thank goodness!" She gasped and quickly took it out from under the sink. Carol scrubbed at her face and arms and was able to get the paint off of her skin as much as she could. Now she needed to get out of these paint stained clothes. Placing the wipes back under the sink and shutting the light off behind her, she walked out of the room and back into hers and nearly screamed when she walked in.

There was Daryl, hanging up her newest painting on her wall. She felt a huge wave of heat creeping up her neck and to her face as she watched him, his back to her, hang the crossbow with a heart arrow painting up on the wall, closest to her bed. He probably thought she was some kind of weirdo, now. Her face was still radiating with heat as she watched him step back a few steps and put his hands on his hips, studying the painting with a tilt of his head. She just watched him study her painting and hoped he didn't think she was entirely creepy. Before she could bolt out of the room, he turned around to face her, a wide grin spread across his face.

"Nice paintin'." He smirked bigger as Carol felt the heat in her face deepen. She didn't know what to say.

"Thanks." Was all she managed out and she couldn't help but feel like a bigger idiot than she already did. Daryl probably thought she was insane, a true weirdo. It seemed as if he just loved embarrassing her, no matter what the circumstances. They were just standing there, him in front of the paint and her in her doorway, staring at each other until she shook her head and started walking to her bureau. "I need to change so," She motioned her hand towards the door, but Daryl didn't make a move as she rummaged through her bureau drawers. She looked over at him once she had picked out a simple pair of sweatpants and a T-shirt. He was standing there, with the same mischievous grin that he had before. "Dude! I have to change!" The nerve of this boy, sometimes. He shrugged.

"Ya gotta bathroom. Don' gotta change in here and make me leave if I don' gotta." She threw the pair of clothes she had picked out onto the bed and stood in front of him, trying to push him to the doorway by his shoulders, but he didn't move an inch. He only chuckled at her as she kept trying to move him. Damn, he was like an oak.

"Fine!" She threw her hands up, exasperated. "I'll go change in my bathroom." She muttered as she picked the clothes up and walked into her bathroom, closing the door behind her. That boy was making himself too comfortable here. If she wanted to change in her bedroom, she should be able to! Carol shook her head at herself in the mirror as she changed out of the paint stained clothes and put on the new pair she picked out. Throwing the dirty clothes into the hamper, she shut off the light and walked out of the bathroom and into her room, to see Daryl wasn't there. She huffed as she stormed out of her room and to the top of her stairs. "Daryl Dixon, you are a real jerk, you know that?!" After putting up that fight, he ended up leaving her room once she was already in the bathroom. She heard him laughing and walked down the stairs, quickly. He was sitting in a chair at her countertop in the kitchen and she stood on the other side of the counter, facing him, hands on her hips and her head cocked one way. Before she could say anything, he said something first.

"Storms stopped." Carol raised her eyebrows and looked out the window over her sink and saw that he was right. The dark clouds were thinning and she was pretty sure she saw light rays of sunlight peeking through. The only sound of rain was the leftover drops falling from her gutters and onto the porch. Her crankiness dismayed and she looked back over at him. He was already by the door, tying up his boots. "Gotta get goin'." He stood up from tying his boots and looked over at her. "Gotta get home and make sure Merle and everythin' is doin' alright. Thank ya for letting me stay wit' ya the past few days, Carol. It was fun." She smiled weakly and nodded.

"That it was." He smiled and turned to open the door. "Call me later?" She couldn't help but feel desperate asking, but it was what she was hoping he'd do. He looked over at her and nodded.

" 'Course." She smiled and waved at him slightly as he opened the door. He stopped enough so his head was just peeking in. "Again, nice painting ya did there. Might be one of my favorites." The mischievous grin returned and she actually groaned in embarrassment as he shut the door quickly after that. She watched him pull out of the driveway in his truck from the window in her kitchen and let out a heavy breath as she watched him start driving down the road. Even though it had been basically three days, she wished he could've stayed longer. She enjoyed his company and even though he could be a pain in the ass when he teased her, she enjoyed having him there to talk to.

Carol looked around and sighed, not knowing what to do now. Her head perked up and she smiled big.

"Oh, thank God." She exasperated as she headed upstairs and into the bathroom. She couldn't remember the last time she had been this excited for a shower, but she knew it had been a while. She hadn't been able to take one the whole time the storm was going on and as soon as she quickly undressed and stepped under the hot water, she actually gasped out loud in joy.

She felt as if she was someone who had never had a shower before, but she couldn't help it. She was still covered in paint and she watched as the different colors washed off of her body and made their way down the drain.

* * *

Merle was out of the liquor store almost as soon as the storm had stopped.

He had been stuck there for three days and they hadn't done anything; not even kiss! Merle couldn't believe the girl. All they did was cuddle and now that he thought about it, it was actually kind of pissing him off! Usually by now he had already laid a chick and told her to get lost, but Amy wasn't going for any of that. It was making him _very _frustrated and it made him pissed off at her, but it made him want her even more. This woman was messing with his fucking head and he felt as if there was no way he could stop it.

Somehow, remarkably, Dale had never known he was there. When they would hear the old mans footsteps coming down the stairs from his apartment, he would scramble to his feet and hide in the janitors closet. Merle couldn't help but feel like some hormonal teenager who had never gotten laid before and like he was trying to impress the girl he wanted by standing under her window and serenading her with some stupid romantic eighties song, all while trying to avoid the man of the house. He was acting like a fucking pussy. He couldn't believe himself. Woman chased _him, _he didn't chase the woman. He was usually able to use his charm and get them in bed twenty minutes later, but Amy seemed like she was onto his little plan and was going to drag out this little thing they had going on between them on for however long he could. And Merle felt like as if he was letting her. He revved his engine on his bike and stepped on the gas more as he drove down the road back home.

All he wanted to do was sit on his couch and watch his goddamn shows. Not any of that sappy stuff they had watched on their date, but _his _shows. He pulled up to where his little house was, or used to be, anyway. Merle slowed down as he pulled into the short driveway and parked beside his brothers truck. He walked up behind Daryl once he dismounted the bike and stared at the jumbled mess in front of him.

* * *

Daryl had been pulling at his hair for so long that it hurt. His scalp was burning at under the handfuls of hair he had been pulling at and his jaw was gaped open.

His house was gone. The storm had knocked a tree down, it landing right on the house. And it wasn't a small tree, either, it was a humungous fucking oak tree. Just his luck. It was official; they were homeless. Him and Merle had absolutely nowhere to go. All of their family were in jail and it's not like they had anybody they could just call up. All of Merle's friends were prostitute screwing druggies who probably didn't know the difference between up and down. And there was no way in absolute hell that he was asking Carol if they could live with her. No way at all. He wouldn't put her in that kind of danger if their dad found out where they were. That was the one thing Daryl was thankful for; their father was still out of town and wasn't there right now. The other thing he was thankful for was the fact that his crossbow had been in his truck, so that was something that hadn't been ruined.

Daryl heard Merle approaching him from behind, but he didn't make an effort to talk or to look at him. He was still just staring at the broken wood and glass that was now there house. Slowly, Daryl released the death grip he had on his hair and closed his mouth into a firm line. Stepping over the debris carefully, Daryl heard the crunch of glass under his feet, but didn't care. He had to go and see if something was okay; something important. He climbed onto the fallen over tree trunk, that lay vertically in the middle of their house and stepped into what used to be his room.

"Man, what the fuck are ya doing?!" He heard his brother shout, but he chose to ignore him. He walked over to his bed, that was broken in half because of the tree and looked at were his bureau had once been. The desk lamp that had been there was shattered and the one thing he was looking for, was face down in the middle of the remains of his bureau. Carefully picking up the frame that was lying on its face, he turned it slowly, scared to see that it may be broken. He was right.

The frame bordering was snapped and the glass was shattered, but the drawing itself looked unharmed. Daryl carefully, but quickly, took the drawing out of the broken frame and held it carefully in his hands. The corners of the paper were wetted a little, but other than that the drawing looked the same as it did the day Carol had given it to him. He was glad he at least had his crossbow and the drawing Carol had given him, but now he was really homeless. They had no options. There was no way they were going to a shelter, because that would just make the down look down at them even more. They were already treated like they were something the town had wiped off of its shoe, going to a shelter wasn't going to help. They could camp out in Daryl's truck for a bit. It wasn't going to be the most luxurious thing in the world, but it would have to do. Daryl was probably going to have to drop out of school and get a job to get money for an apartment or something because he knew that Merle sure as hell wasn't going to get a job. He walked back over to his brother, still holding the drawing carefully in his hands. His brother was now sitting on the hood of Daryl's truck and Daryl approached him, leaning his back against the hood.

"Th' hell we gonna do, baby brother?" He ran his hands down his face before looking at him. Daryl shrugged.

"Figured we could hole up in th' truck fer a while."

"Hell no, man."

"We ain't got much of a fucking choice, Merle!" Daryl snarled at his brother and cracked his fingers one by one, hoping it would release some of the tension Daryl was feeling right now. His brother wasn't saying anything and that was making Daryl more nervous than anything; that meant he was thinking and who knew what kind of idea he'd come up with. Daryl highly doubted it'd be an idea that would help them, any. And Daryl was definitely right.

"We could always go ta Carol."

"No." Daryl said sternly and looked at Merle. He raised his hands up slightly.

"I'm just sayin' man, I doubt she'd have a problem wit' it." Daryl shook his head quickly.

"No, Merle! I ain't askin' if we can fucking live wit' her!" He pushed himself up from his spot and started pacing in front of the truck.

"Quit pacing, baby bro." He jumped off the hood of the truck and crossed his arms. "I ain't shacking up in no damn truck. If ye ain't gonna call up yer girl, I will." Merle went to his jacket pocket and Daryl was on him faster than he could even blink.

"Ya ain't calling her!" He yelled at his brother, trying to reach for his brothers phone, but Merle was fast. "No, put it down! She ain't a goddamn charity house!" Merle had maneuvered his way around him and now Daryl was chasing him around his truck as if it were a game of cat and mouse.

" 'Ey, Carol!" He heard his brother shout into the receiver and he picked up it speed, but it seemed as if Merle did, too. "Yeah, it's Merle." They were playing a fucking game of tag and Merle was just chatting as if it was no big deal. "Listen, I got some bad news."

"Carol, hang up the fucking phone!" Daryl shouted and Merle shook his head quickly.

"Nah, nah! Listen, Carol, the storm knocked down a tree, a huge fuckin' tree onto our house and it's gone. We ain't got no place to go and ya know, yer house is big. We've all seen it. We- Well, I, was wonderin' if we could stay with ya until we're back on our feet?"

"Son of a bitch," Daryl breathed as he finally came to a stop at the hood of the truck. His forearms were on the hood and he was bended over, breathing heavily. He could still hear Merle talking over the phone and Daryl was so angry he could just wring his brothers neck.

"Thank ya so much, Carol. We'll be there in a few." And then he hung up the phone. Merle came around and slapped his hand on his brothers back. "Told ya she wouldn't care." Daryl moved out from under his brothers hand immediately and glared at his brother.

"I can't fuckin' believe ya did that!" He pushed his brothers shoulders back and glared at him. "Carol ain't a shelter fer us!" Merle only chuckled and put his hands up.

"Yer just scared this is gonna put a damper on yer little budding romance." He started walking over to his bike. "She's met ya, talked to ya, hung out with ya and she's met me. I highly doubt anythin' is gonna scare her away from ya now." He mounted his bike and started it. "If ya think 'bout it, I did ya a favor. Now you'll never be away from her. Now if you'd stop bein' a whiny bitch, I told 'er that we'd be there in ten." He started backing out of the driveway and Daryl kicked his truck and ran his hands through his hair, blowing out a shaky breath. He was so pissed off at his brother, words couldn't even describe. It didn't look like he had much of a choice now. He slowly walked over to the drivers side of the truck and got in, following his brothers bike to the all to familiar house that he had just left. It didn't take him long to get there, but when he pulled up, his brothers bike was being driven into the garage and Daryl pulled his truck all the way to the end of the driveway. He stopped it and turned it off, but didn't make a move to get out of the truck. He stared at Carol's house like it was the first time he'd been there. He was really going to be living with her; him and his brother. _She _was taking _him _under her wing, like she had done so many times before. Before it had been small things like bringing him lunch and helping him in English class, but now she was giving him shelter. His brother was fucking stupid and he was pissed off, but he got out of the truck, slamming the door shut and walking up to the front door. Nervously, he tapped on the door and Carol was there to open it quickly. He nearly fell back when she hugged him suddenly and tightly.

"Thank God you weren't there when the tree fell, you could've been killed!" She pulled back, but kept her hands on his shoulders, looking at him. "You and Merle are more than welcome to stay as long as you need. Don't think otherwise, alright?" He only nodded slightly and she patted his shoulders before taking them away completely. "You guys didn't pack anything?"

"Nothin' made it, 'cept fer this." He gently pulled the drawing out of his pocket and Carol looked down at it and smiled.

"I've got a frame we could put it in." She walked inside and he hesitantly followed her, taking his boots off by the door. Merle had already settled himself on the couch and made himself at fucking home, his feet up on the table and the baseball game on the T.V. The nerve of his brother. "I've already shown Merle his room; it's a guest room at the end of the hall." They were walking up the stairs now. "The only other guest room I have is this one." She opened a door that was right next to her room and Daryl peeked in. It wasn't huge, but it definitely wasn't small. It was bigger than his old room.

"Thanks." He muttered sheepishly and walked into the room, feeling foreign. He knew this was wrong, all so wrong, but they didn't have anywhere else to go and Merle went and opened his big mouth. He was sure that Carol looked at him as nothing more than a burden, but he was just thankful that they actually had a nice place to call home and their pa would have no clue where they were. If he did find out and tried hurting Carol, Daryl would not hesitate. He'd kill the bastard, put an arrow in his brain. He walked over to a bureau, a big bureau, nothing like the small one he had, that was against the wall across from his bed and set the drawing gently on top. He turned to the doorway, expecting Carol to have left, but she was still there. She was leaning in the door way and biting her lip slightly.

"We don't have school tomorrow, they called me and said there was some damage that wouldn't be taken care of until at least Wednesday. Tomorrow I'll take you and Merle out to get you some clothes."

"Nah," Daryl shook his head quickly. "You've done enough fer us already." She shook her own head.

"You guys don't have any clothes." He went to object again, but she didn't give him a chance. "Daryl, we both know I'm what society calls... 'Wealthy'. It's not going to hurt me any, getting you and your brother some clothes. Now stop arguing, and get settled in. I'll get you some pajamas for the night." And with that, she was gone. Daryl sat down on the bed, that was now his and exhaled deeply. It still didn't seem like this was real. He couldn't believe this was were he was fucking living now. He put his head in his hands and bent down so they were pressed against his knees. It was all so much to take in. Carol had given him and his brother a place to live without even giving it a second thought.

She returned a little while later, handing him pajama pants and a black T-shirt. He took them and nodded at her in thanks.

"Dinner will be ready in an hour." She informed him and walked back out before he even got a chance to say anything. He stood up and shut the door and started changing into the pajamas she had given him, only looking at his scars on his chest for a moment before slipping the shirt on. He wasn't going to build up any foolish hopes, but maybe, just maybe, this was all a good thing. Carol was usually by herself all the time, anyway, so maybe some company would help her and maybe being around the likes of Carol could help Merle smarten up. Daryl tossed his clothes into the hamper in the corner of his room before lying back on the bed, lacing his hands behind his head and staring up at the ceiling.

Maybe things would be alright here.

* * *

**Yeah, they moved in with Carol. That was what I was so nervous for and I hope none of you think it's too weird. I have a plan brewing in my head and in order for it to take place, them moving in had to be a part of it. Always leave it to Merle to get the pestering questions out there ;) Oh, I loved his character so much, nonetheless. Anyway, hope you guys still decide to stick with this story and don't think it's weird.**

**Thanks for reading!**


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